


Wishbone

by Magical_Hippo, MeLikesRofl



Series: Across the Rainbow [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Minor Character Death, lots of feelings, ride or die - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28665723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Hippo/pseuds/Magical_Hippo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeLikesRofl/pseuds/MeLikesRofl
Summary: Chie is just a prisoner in her own skin. She didn't think she has to go through this.All she hears are the chains rattling in her head, until one day, they said to her - the tolling of the bell has come. Let the miracles guide your way.
Series: Across the Rainbow [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100795
Comments: 43
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

(To build the world, you suspend your disbelief.)

Chie runs, dodges and spins around, ducking past her guard and slams the ball into the hoop.

The whistle blows. "And time!"

"Woah!!"

"Good job Chie-chan!"

"Kyaa! She's so cool!"

"Oh man, good job! You really got us there!"

Chie grins, wiping off her sweat with the towel around her neck. "Nah, can't do it without you guys at my back."

"Eh, don't be so modest. Luckily we have you in our class to balance out Dame Tsuna."

"Hieee…" the aforementioned boy cringes at the sudden mention as the group of celebrating teenagers glanced over at the other team. Chie shakes her head, patting her classmate's shoulder. "Don't bother him about it. A lack of athletic talents doesn't mean much since everyone has their own good points. Like your _amazing_ ability to blush, for example." She pokes her teammate’s cheek, grinning as he flushes beetroot red.

"Dammit Chie-san!"

"Hahaha!"

"When are you joining the basketball club?” The class president raises an eyebrow. 

"Nah, I'm happy being part of the go-home club." Chie flashes a grin. "And besides, we don't have an instrumental club or I would have had a reason to stay after school. Also, I'm hungry even if you guys are not." Saying such, she sweeps away as the gym teacher ineffectively calls for their attention, sighed, and loudly shouted that the class is dismissed.

The crowd chatters loudly as the students slowly mill out of the gym to the ringing of the period bell. Just another typical day at Namimori Middle.

./

"Hey hey, did you hear? Sawada confessed to Kyoko-chan in his boxers!" The homeroom class is noisy and excited despite the cold in the early morning.

"Ahhh? What a pervert!"

"Woah!! Since when is that Sawada so daring? Did he finally grow a spine or something?"

Gossip mill, how I missed thee. Chie raises an eyebrow and links her gaze with Hana's matching expression. 

'What?' Hana mouths to her in disbelief, before the second part of the rumour hits them. 

"Because he asked her out, Mochida-san challenged Sawada for Kyoko-chan's hand and honour at the gym later!"

Chie scrunches her eyebrows, eyes flicking in concern to Hana's visibly growing ire. "No, what exactly did Mochida say?!” She growls at the gaggle of teens at the doorway as they flinch back from her in momentary surprise.

"Hana-san! Mochida-san said that Kyoko-chan doesn't deserve to go out with a loser like Dame Tsuna, and Kei-san overheard him telling his friends that if he wins the kendo battle later Kyoko-chan will go out with him instead. Is it true, Hana-san?"

"That monkey." Hana grits her teeth, a cloudy expression on her face as she storms out of the classroom, intent on finding her best friend.

"Okie, it's damage control time y'all." Chie slips around the stunned teens, flashing a quicksilver grin. "Kyoko didn't say that, and if she's going out with anyone that's on her to decide and no one else, got it?"

"A-Ah. Is that so?" The group turns to each other and continues chattering as Chie races down the hallways at the fastest jog she can get away with together with Hana, thankful that the demon prefect clearly isn't on this side of the building to control the rowdy morning crowd.

….Gym. They're probably at the gym.

Sprinting forward at full speed once she's left the classroom building, she skids to the door and takes in the small crowd formed as Mochida shouts insults at Tsuna in the impromptu ring, clearly not respectful at all. 

"That kendo equipment is rigged, isn't it." Nudging over to Hana's side, Chie narrows her eyes at the unfair battle as Hana snorts. "It's clearly heavy enough to make their hands shake while carrying it. How did Mochida even get such a sword anyway?" 

Hana glares at him the entire time as Chie carefully slings an arm around Kyoko's waist, whispering to her friend. "Don't worry, no matter what we'll make sure you won't have to date anyone you don't have feelings for. Can you trust us on that?"

Serious green eyes stare into worried sunflower yellow. "I'll be fine," Kyoko grips her sleeve, a determined glint to her eyes. "I won't go out with someone as rude as Mochida-san."

"Atta girl." Chie nods in approval, watching Hana deflate slightly from the corner of her eyes at Kyoko's declaration.

"WOAHHH!"

The trio snaps their gaze over to the sudden commotion, the crowd of bored teenagers cheering on at an upset.

"I'm taking a look." Chie elbows her way up front and choked, covering her wide grin with a hand as a force of nature unfolds before her very eyes.

"I WILL WIN WITH MY DYING WILL!" 

Clumps of black hair are torn by the roots in fistfuls as Mochida screams in pain and embarrassment while the idiot referee is being useless.

Chie grins from ear to ear as a nearly naked Sawada is eventually declared winner, much to the cronies' upset. Skipping back to the two girls, she links her arms between theirs and quickly pulls them out of the gym, well ahead of the slow reacting crowd. "Come on, we can talk all about it in class before Hibari comes here. Let's go."

Oh god. That was _hilarious_.

And to think this is just the start of it all.

./

Classes are as boring as ever. Chie quickly stuffs all her papers into her bag and dashed to the doorway, uncaring of the iron grip on her arm as Hana stares at her with a blank face, futilely attempting to get her to stay back with them after school.

"Again?"

"Yep." She pops, eyes glinting in excitement. "I bought a new poncho too!”

"Oh, you're seriously going to Tokyo?"

"Yeah! I wanna see if I can make a name for myself there."

"...out of all things?" _Why_. 

Chie grins at the silent despair emanating from her friend. A street performer isn't exactly what most teenagers would aspire to be, but screw this. She's been through the academic track once in another life and this time she can _sing_.

"Do you have a place to sleep though, Chie-chan?" Kyoko asks worriedly. "Spending the weekend there alone isn't very safe…"

"Don't worry," Chie smiles gently at her concern. "There's always internet cafes and they have _everything._ And besides," she flexes her arm, "I can take care of myself."

Hana pokes her squishy arm, snorting. "I doubt you can even punch something that hard."

"Have a bit more faith in her Hana-chan." Kyoko giggles.

"Hehe, thanks for the vote of confidence. See ya Hana-chan, Kyoko-chan!" Chie slips out of Hana's fingers and dashes her way to freedom.

_Can you hear my rainy day song_

_Calling from the street below_

_Baby, since I've been without you_

_Well, it's the only song I know…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hand itchy~  
> Okay so, it's going to be like this - one chapter in the middle of the week and one on the weekend. That's gonna be the schedule for the foreseeable future.
> 
> Have fun :3

_ Kono sora wa dokomade tsuzuku _

_ Bokura no shiru sekai wa semaku te _

_ Dareka no tasuke motomeru koe _

_ Kikoe nu furi shite~ _

A light, clear voice rings through the crowded streets, blending in and out of the foot traffic as a mysterious smile blossoms under the shadow of a navy blue poncho, fingers strumming the guitar along to a single heartbeat in the crowd.

Rain or shine, the figure happily cheers and strums along to the lives it touches, curious small hands of children approaching her and leaving with smiles and sweets every weekend.

She laughs wholeheartedly as she makes peace in a world entirely her own. Her warm smile, contagious.

"Thank you for listening." She bows politely to gentle applause and gathers her things, waving at the crowd as she hurries off to the train.

./

"Eh, who is this?" Chie points at the mysteriously hot tempered transfer student snapping and growling at every person around him, currently tearing into the baseball star of their class.

"Oh that? The explosive monkey," Hana scoffs, arms crossed, "is Gokudera Hayato. You're lucky you missed his entrance to class."

"Hmm? What happened?" Chie blinks at her, curious eyes gleaming at the potential for gossip.

Hana gives her an undeserved judgemental look, which, rude, but go on. "He overturned Dame Tsuna's desk on the first day, but by the next morning he did a one-eighty and practically worships the ground Tsuna walked on. There's a screw loose in his head, I'll say." She crosses her arms and leans back in her seat as Kyoko pokes her. 

Chie laughs at their antics as Hana grumbles and moves over for Kyoko to get up and drag a spare chair for Chie to sit in between the crowded classroom aisle.

"Anything else I missed?"

Hana snorts. "If you count that time when Nezu tried to expel the both of them, yeah."

Chie grins widely and does a little wiggle. Kyoko shakes her head. "Down, Chie-chan."

"But Kyoko-chan!" Her eyes  _ sparkle. _

"Down." Hana smacks her with a rolled up paper. Pouting, Chie rubs her head. "You came back late. Luckily the principal still has your letter."

"I know, hehe." Chie grins at the comment. It's a signed parental slip that states that Chie may occasionally be pulled out to help with the family business over the weekend, and due to that she may be unable to return to school on time. A free pass, of sorts. Very handy.

"Yeah, and you made me your gofer." Hana deadpans.

Chie sticks her tongue out at her teasingly as Hana snaps her chopsticks threateningly close to her face. "But you're so responsible, Hana-chan! I know I can count on you!"

"Kyoko, why did we pick up this freeloader again?"

"Hey! I help you with your homework and this is what I get, how cruel." Mock sadness floods her face as Hana rolls her eyes while Kyoko giggles at their antics.

"Thankfully there's nothing else going on," Kyoko pats Hana's shoulder before turning to her bento box. "Onii-chan seems rather hyped up for his upcoming tournaments, he’s also invited Tsuna-kun to join him on his morning runs.”

"That boxer head clearly knows what he wants," Hana quotes with inverted marks, signing off while staring at Chie dead in the eye. Chie smiles in a rare moment of parental approval. 

"That's right Hana-chan. It's good to have a goal in life."

"...well, so long as they don't end up consuming you." Snapping her chopsticks, the trio finally tucked into their lunch-

A scream echoes as the entire classroom startle. 

"Huh? What happened?" Kyoko is the first to react as everyone looks around blindly just as someone slams open the classroom door.

"Yamamoto's on the roof! He's gonna jump!"

"Wha-what?" Kyoko covers her mouth in horror and Hana stands up in disbelief. Chie jerks and digs into her pockets. "I'm calling an ambulance. Can someone please run to the gym and carry the mats to the first floor? Quickly!"

"Why would mats even-"

"Quickly!” Panicked green eyes beg Hana to move, pushing her towards the door. 

"Okay okay, YOU HEARD HER, MONKEYS. GET TO IT!" Hana commands.

As organised chaos set itself in motion, Chie dashes to the window with searching eyes as the phone dials mockingly by her ear.  _ Please, please, please. _

When she still couldn't find a silhouette on the roof, she pats a still stunned Kyoko, nods at Hana and runs downstairs.

The call connects. "Hello, how can I-"

She immediately blurts out; "Namimori Middle School, potential jumper. Hurry!”  _ Click _ .

Dashing towards the courtyard, she drags the mats on the ground, signalling over to others to come and help as the commotion above them got bigger.  _ Please, Yamamoto, don't. Please let Canon's magic work. _

"WOAH!" A boy screams as something flashes down the roof. Chie squeezes her eyes shut in despair.

"YAMAMOTO!” An anguished cry echoes.

Chie... didn't know what happened next.

Between one thunderous heartbeat and another, there was only silence. And then.

Chie peeks open one eye. Then another. And boggles at the tangle of limbs on the dented blue mats in front of her as the dust settles.

Her jaw drops at the blazing orange flames on his forehead as she collapses on her butt, stunned.

_ It's real… _

“Are you guys alright?" She panics, hands shakily outstretched yet frozen as she kneels beside them.

"Ow ow ow…" Yamamoto holds his head as clear hazel eyes eventually focus on her. "Oh, Chie-san! I'm alright...eh?" He looks down. She looks down.

A semi-conscious Tsuna greets both of them from beneath Yamamoto's form.

./

After the incident, wildfire rumours were quickly hushed up by the Disciplinary Committee and the ambulance was sent off without fanfare, though she heard that Yamamoto's dad was informed by the relevant authorities.

At least things settled down rather quickly.

The hottest gossip topic turned from a duo to a trio, much to Hana's annoyance.

"I can't believe they got off scott free." She scoffs in annoyance. Kyoko shakes her head at her. 

"At least Yamamoto-kun is alright. If not for Tsuna-kun's quick reflexes, no one knows what would've happened."

"Tch." Hana grumbles but drops the topic, turning to eye Chie, who has been in a slightly dazed state ever since that incident.

Poking her cheek, Kyoko calls; "Earth to Chie-chan, you there?"

"Yes?" Chie slides her gaze to Kyoko, before brightening slightly at a sudden thought. "Oh, how was your study session yesterday with Tsuna-san?"

"It was rather fun alright!" Kyoko claps her hands together happily, flowers blooming in the background, entirely oblivious to her two friends cringing internally from the excessive aura. "Sawada-san was very hospitable and her snacks are really tasty too!"

"I heard that he has a tutor living with him, is it true?" Chie prods curiously.

"Mn." Kyoko nods sagely. "He's also very cute! Perhaps if Tsuna-kun is amenable, we can all go over to his house together to hang out someday?"

"Sounds like fun." Chie grins cheekily as if a joke's round the corner. Hana eyes her expression suspiciously as innocent eyes look at her. "Yes, Hana?"

"Nothing." She clicks her tongue.

Raising an eyebrow at Hana's reaction, Chie slid down onto her desk. "Ah~ I can't wait for the summer holidays," she whines with a blissful expression.

"Are you going to the beach this year, Chie-chan?"

"More like Chie is gonna pull out the sunglasses and put a foot on the water cooler while screaming her lungs out."

" _ In tune _ , Hana,  _ in tune _ . Also I can totally picture myself doing exactly that so thank you for the idea." Chie mimes the pose with an air guitar, a socked foot stamping on her chair.

Hana rolls her eyes as Kyoko stares amusedly at her shoe. "Did you take it off just for the emphasis?"

"But of course. Cultivating a showman's flair takes time and the willingness to go the extra mile." Chie snorts with pride, a ridiculous grin on her face as Hana smacks her head just for the sake of it.

"Hey!"

Giggling, their peaceful days never seemed to end.


	3. Chapter 3

"...did I hear correctly?" Chie asked Hana in mild disbelief. "They… made a mess out of the Discomm's room?"

Hysteria bubbles up her chest as she cracks up.

"They, they- Hibari!” She breaks into peals of laughter at the rooftop. "Ahahahaha!"

Ok one, she has forgotten that _that_ happens. And two-

"Hi-Hibari!" She cackles, along with a giggling Kyoko as they wink conspiringly at each other. Hana rolls her eyes, too used to their antics.

"Why are you still calling it Discomm anyway?"

"Don't you feel that the Disciplinary Committee is such a mouthful?" She sticks out her tongue at Hana. "This way it's much easier and more ambiguous." Chie smirks at her proudly, hands placidly folded on her skirt in a prim posture.

It only lasts a second.

Hana throws a chestnut at her as Chie cackles, hiding behind Kyoko. "How's your summer, Chie-chan?"

Ducking beneath another swipe, Chie dances out of the way and rolls to the other side. "It's great, thanks for asking! Fukouka's _beautiful_." Chie sighs dreamily, utterly at contrast with the winning smirk on her face as Hana takes a piece of fried potato from the bento as a last ditch effort.

Locking gazes, green eyes widen as Hana brings it to her mouth.

"Ah! My fry!” 

Hana chomps down ruthlessly, savouring the taste and licks her lips. She smirks. "Thanks for the meal."

Chie _wails_. Loudly.

"Onii-chan has been trying to get Tsuna-kun to join his boxing club," Kyoko interjects quickly, shoving her piece of fried potato into Chie’s open mouth, causing two pairs of eyes to turn to her. "He's been running around and shouting for Tsuna-kun to call him 'Onii-san' too."

"Ah? You alright with that Kyoko-chan?" Chie darts her eyes to Hana and back, concern etched onto her face. 

"Mhm," Kyoko nods affirmatively. "Tsuna-kun is a good person." 

She tucks in her skirt, curling an orange lock behind her ear. "And he's good for Onii-chan too," she lowers her voice furtively. "I've seen how… sad Onii-chan looks sometimes, when he thinks I'm busy. He will look at his fists with guilt, and I…"

Kyoko clenches her fists and opens them. "It's… hard to get Onii-chan to talk about his difficulties."

Hana and Chie share a look.

"And what did Sawada do?" Hana ticks an annoyed eyebrow, a grim line on her face as Kyoko looks at her, spying the teasing line of her wrinkles and tentatively smiles back.

"He brings Onii-chan to life." She outright beams. "He looks so happy whenever Tsuna-kun talks to him, or hangs out together."

"And so you've decided to accept him?"

Twisting the hem of her skirt, Kyoko looks down. “Well, so long as Onii-chan and Tsuna-kun are good for each other, I don’t see why not.” She smiles sweetly, a touch of darkness creeping into her eyes. “That is, if Sawada Tsunayoshi doesn’t try to take advantage of my brother.”

Her grip tightens as she recalls her brother getting beaten up. She will never allow herself to be a liability again. If need be, she will be the pillar her brother needs. She lets go of her skirt, gently smoothing out the wrinkles and she beams at them. “I'm glad I have the both of you, always here with me.”

Chie flops onto the floor, humming. "If that's what you want. Don't worry, I love you too Kyoko." She has the gall to turn her head and wink. Hana twitches.

Ah. A tick mark is growing on Hana's forehead. Too bad she's too far away to smack her.

Chie closes her eyes, enjoying the wind as she takes a well deserved nap beside her friends.

./

"We're electing volunteers for tomorrow's athletic festival."

"Ehhhh?" The class groans upon hearing the class rep's declaration. 

A discussion immediately broke out as everyone gathered into groups. Clearly, no one can decide which event to join.

"Guys, remember to elect a leader for each category," he shouts over the din.

At that, Gokudera immediately shoots up. "I elect Jyuudaime as leader!"

Chie immediately slams her face onto her desk. At the far corner of the classroom, someone falls out of their seat. Someone whispers; "Just how loud can his devotion be?"

"Er… any objection?" 

Gokudera glares down everyone, so… good try, class rep. 

"Which category will Sawada be in then?"

"Anything!" Gokudera smirks, his teeth shining, confidence blooming. Chie can feel the cringe seeping into her bones, stifling her laughter at Tsuna's rapidly obvious mortification.

"O-okay…"

"Good luck for tomorrow, Tsuna-kun!" Ah, that's Kyoko's voice. Turning her head to watch the drama, Chie peers with barely hidden amusement at the disaster child shrieking while clutching his head.

Tomorrow is clearly gonna be great.

./

…….she takes it all back.

Why.

Why is this her life?

Wincing at the sea of nauseous bodies incapacitated from some kind of poison _(poison cooking? Is it real?)_ , she tip-toes over to the far side of the field as she removes her tag.

That looks like a ratio of 100:1. No, seriously. Why would any sane person jump in?

And how in the world did Tsuna and co. aggravate just about _everybody_ in school?

It's utterly chaotic. 

Their dear demon prefect looks very keen on the pole knocking match for some reason, while the rest of them seem to be thirsting for vengeance. Chie decides to stay far, far away as team A got entirely overrun by the sheer mass of people.

Shaking her head, she jogs over to the spectator's side and greets the people she knows, when someone pokes her shoulder. 

"Hahi! I'm Haru, and you're Kyoko-chan's friend right?"

"Ah right, nice to meet you too, I'm Chie." Bowing politely at each other, Haru dithers between obligatory conversation and turning back to the chaotic mess.

"It's okay Haru-chan, you don't have to be formal around me either." Chie grins, nodding towards the field. "Go and root for your favourites, yeah?"

"You're a great person, hahi!" Haru grins, waving her hands as she joins the cheers.

"Sawada-san?"

"Ara?" The Sawada matriarch turns to her, classic brown eyes framed by a gentle Nadeshiko vibe focused on her. "Yes, may I help you?"

Chie bows to her. "Thank you for taking care of Kyoko-chan. Me and Hana-chan really appreciate your care for our friend."

"Ah, you don't have to be so concerned about that, it's entirely my pleasure." Nana beams at her, a small blush on her face as she directs an adoring expression to the ...half naked Tsuna. Oh god, it happened again.

Chie bites her cheeks as she silently struggles against laughing. Bad Chie, don't be impolite.

"My poor son rarely makes new friends, so imagine how happy I was that he finally brought some friends home."

A comforting hand gently takes hers and pats them. "You're all welcome to visit any time, so feel free to come over. I'm sure Tsuna will be glad to see you all there."

"Thank you." Chie nods, slightly taken aback at the sheer sincerity. "I'll pass it on to Kyoko-chan and Hana-chan." Nana nods.

A small tug on her fingers drew her attention as she was about to leave. "I meant for you too," Nana smiles at her, something sad and discerning in her eyes. Chie jerks minutely and nods, pasting on a smile as she bid farewell.

./

"Are your parents not coming back this year as well?"

"Mm, they said they'll be busy. Maybe during Christmas."

"Chie-chan…"

"Don't worry about me, Kyoko, I know how to take care of myself."

"How about a sleepover?"

"With your brother's snoring? Yeah, sure, that sounds like a great idea! Unlike you, the rest of us don’t have an immunity towards loud noises." Kyoko giggles over the phone, clearly amused at the dramatic tone.

"Hmm. How about this, if your parents still aren't around by Christmas, let's go shopping in Tokyo. Just you, me and Hana-chan."

"Okay, I'll see you soon! Goodnight, Kyoko."

"Goodnight, Chie-chan."

Lying in the darkness of her room, Chie turns away from the window and tries to bury her head in the pillow to drown out the faint rattling in her head.


	4. Chapter 4

_koyoi mo zujou dewa kirei na mangetsu ga kirakira_

_shiawasesou ni sekai o terashiteiru_

Pale lips hum as cold fingers strum the electric guitar, fog curling around her shadows as snowflakes drift in front of the bright tree decorated in neon.

_tou no watashi wa dekisokonai de doushiyoumonakute_

_yoake yume mite wa jibeta haizurimawatteru_

Blank eyes gazes at the milling crowd passing by, strangers to each other's lives. Untold stories littering their footsteps as she warms up.

So she opens her mouth-

./

Tucking her red scarf tighter, Chie rubs her hands as she heads for a good bowl of ramen. Cold weather, hot food. Always a good combination.

Trudging through the ankle deep snow, Chie ducks under the swinging banner and hops onto the stool.

"Oh, hi there! What can I get for you?"

"Just a chicken broth ramen please. Less on the salt."

"Right'o!" The chef cheers, wrinkled face crinkling into a well-worn grin as he prepares the ingredients. Chie helps herself to the condiments and watches as he places a steaming cup of green tea in front of her, murmuring her thanks.

"That's on the house young lady, you look like you're really freezing there!"

Shaking her head with a smile at his exuberance, she quietly breaks the chopsticks apart and begins to eat. The shop is rather quiet with only a few customers during the off-peak hours. And that's when she notices another person as thinly dressed as her.

A white haired man slurps his noodles quickly as the steam entirely fogged up his glasses, a plain yukata draped on his thin frame.

Chie turns back to her own counter, blowing the piping hot tea while cupping her hands against the sides to warm them.

It's none of her business. She shouldn't care for coincidences.

./

The year passes without fanfare, counting down one after another to something she cannot name.

Does it have a name?

Hand outstretched into the dark winter sky, the swing creaks as she lightly kicks off the ground, cold metal biting into her palms as she ignores the world.

Hot breath focuses into wisps of smoke, inevitably turning into what it's meant to be.

Is there a struggle? 

Her bags are placed at the supporting pole along with her mittens. Sometimes, she just wants to understand the cold.

If it's cold, so cold, maybe, will her heart be as frozen one day too?

Does it really matter?

She stands on the swing idly, rocking her weight as she watches the world turn. 

On and on it goes, carried on by the unseen force of nature, weighed onto the responsibility of the future.

She jumps off the swing, skidding across the soft stretch of snow as she lies prone against the sky. 

How lonely…

./

"Chie-chan!" Kyoko skids to a stop in front of her. Chie stares at her friend in confusion. "Kyoko? What are you doing here?"

Pursing her lips, Kyoko grabs her arm and drags her and her traveling bag away from the leaving crowd. 

"Why aren't you in school?"

 _... I could ask the same of you, you know_?

Chie blinks at her. "Why aren't you in Namimori, Kyoko?"

A frown appeared on the school idol's face. "You've skipped school for more than a week now, all of us are getting very worried."

Chie sighs and flaps a hand half-heartedly. "It's not like I'm actually missing anything. They're just doing revision on old topics."

"You still haven't answered my question." Kyoko stares at her with an unmovable expression.

"KYOKO!" 

Chie glues her eyes comically to the loud boy sprinting their way as her hands inch to her ears. "KYOKO! I SEE YOU'VE EXTREMELY FOUND HER!"

Chie winces at the loud volume. It was too close to her sensitive ears. Ryohei excitedly pumps the air, sweat dripping off his brow as he grins widely at both of them, visibly putting in effort in lowering his tone.

"What an Extreme person! No wonder my lil' sis talks about you so much."

Kyoko blushes.

“...Kyoko.”

“Yes?”

“I want it just for the record that I don’t swing that way, sorry.”

“...Me neither. I’m sorry about Onii-chan too.”

“It’s okay, Kyoko.” The girls share a moment of deep empathy as Ryohei confusedly asks if they were not going to continue sightseeing or perform something EXTREME. Chie shakes her head, slinging her heavy guitar bag over her shoulder as she pulls Kyoko along. “We’re going for ice cream and then we’ll head home. Shall we go, Ryohei-senpai?”

“You can just call me brother, to the Extreme! We can always revisit Yokohama during the next holidays!” He grins sunnily at them.

“Sounds like a plan, Onii-chan!”

./

“I guess your parents are really busy huh.” Kyoko bites into a sausage as her watchful eyes carefully analyse Chie’s expression. Hana hooks an arm around her, dragging her in to ruffle her hair. “Seriously, just because your parents are in business doesn’t mean that they should neglect you.” 

Huffing, Chie swats Hana’s hand away from her dark locks. “I’m fine Hana-chan, Kyoko-chan. You guys don’t have to worry. They’ve paid off my rent for the next five years and I have more than enough allowance anyway.”

“Still.” Kyoko purses her lips. “It’s not right.”

Chie rolls her eyes. “Guys, come on. It’s just the start of the year, can’t we start the note on something stupid instead?”

“Oh right, Tsuna-kun invited me for a flower viewing event, you can come along with us Chie-chan!”

“I’ll pass.” Hana quickly deflects.

“I’ll go on one condition.” Kyoko perks up at her. “Tell me about your zoo date with Tsuna?” Chie grins as Kyoko blushes and covers her face with her fingers, peeking through the gaps. 

“Yes, yes, we all know he’s cute, that’s why you went out with him. Come on, Kyoko, give us the juicy details! Is he that shy? Secretly aggressive? What?”

“Stop it, Chie-chan!” Kyoko shrieks scandalously, slapping her shoulder as Chie laughs in utter delight, her friend finally losing the calm countenance she’s so famous for.

“Says the girl who acts cool in front of her crush!”

“ _Enough!_ ”

Chie laughs merrily and Kyoko joins in.


	5. Chapter 5

Spring came and went without a hitch. Or at least, that’s what Chie wants herself to believe, collapsing onto the chair in the near-stifling heat.

Lots of students with broken or missing teeth finally return to school after the weekend, and Chie wants to bite her lip as the majority of the sports clubs have to shift around their rotations for the remaining summer tournaments, and schedules had to be rearranged in light of the injured participants. 

It was just so messy for a while. Thankfully, Chie only acts as an unofficial club advisor for some of her friends rather than being in charge of the actual logistics.

Stupid Mukuro. At least Hibari produces collateral damage on objects, not _people_.

Bruises, casts and limps are commonplace now, and Tsuna looks like he’s trying to shrink guiltily into his seat every time he spots a bandaged limb or swollen face within his vicinity since the past week, the only thing stopping him from truly acting upon his thoughts is the clear terror on his face courtesy of a certain tutor. 

Well. No one else thus far puts that expression on Tsuna. It’s so easy to read, no wonder Reborn has so much fun teasing Tsuna all the time.

Yamamoto came into class with an arm in a sling, a goofball grin on his face at the attention his fanclub immediately showers onto him, laughing merrily all the while. Gokudera sneaks in with a ‘tch’, bandaged hands shoved into his pockets while Tsuna warily trails behind him, as if hoping no one will draw any attention to his presence behind the smoker.

Well, tough luck.

“Good morning Tsuna-kun, it’s great to see that you’re back!” Kyoko visibly brightens at his entrance, perking up in her seat as Hana automatically scowls. Chie giggles behind her hand as Tsuna cheers up, then shrinks as everyone turns their eyes to him in an instant while he scrambles to his seat.

Poor child. He’s never going to live an unremarkable, boring life.

“Is it that amusing to watch Sawada cringe?” Hana jabs her side, whispering to her ear as the classroom’s din inevitably rises. Chie nods her head without an ounce of shame.

“He’s a walking, talking trouble magnet of epic proportions. It’s impossible to have a boring day around him.” She giggles even louder, this time not even bothering to cover her mirth.

“Just look,” she gestures to the class. “The moment he steps in, something will inevitably trigger everyone to look at him and pay attention. It doesn’t matter what he is actually doing. It’s almost as if the entire school is trying to revolve itself around him.”

Chie grins as if there’s an inside joke in her head that she’s not sharing. Hana narrows her eyes at her. “Doesn’t stop the monkeys from calling him names though.”

“No, of course not,” Chie agrees amiably, a smile hidden in her eyes. “It’s an effective way of getting him to react to their presence just by calling him something unflattering. Like a bad example of ‘notice me senpai!’,” she tells Hana.

“Why would they even want his attention? Or pay attention to ‘Dame-Tsuna’, for that matter.” Hana scoffs, crossing her arms in disbelief. 

Chie supports her chin with an arm, leaning on Hana’s desk as she raises an eyebrow. “Hana-chan, oh Hana-chan, you didn’t notice it either, did you?”

“Hah?”

“You’re talking about him.” She points out. “The moment he enters, all conversation topics turn to him. Every. Single. Time.”

Chie grins her wide Cheshire smile as Hana stops. Processes.

“...you’re right.” Horror laces her tone as Hana turns to stare at Kyoko in shock just as the teacher hurriedly rushes in with the ringing bell.

Chie laughs, her gut coiling in a pit of ice as she dreads for the future. 

./

Their second year in Namimori Middle is as eventful as ever, with shrieks and chaotic stories filling her ears courtesy of a cheerful Kyoko and snarky Hana as Tsuna and the gang weave in and out of the duo's lives smoother than any seamstress could.

Chie nods, smiles, and flings her arms around her friends’ shoulders, skipping between them as she counts down the months, weeks, days they have left to keep their childhood innocence.

She grieves.

She sings as school ends, a guitar in hand as she takes to the empty classrooms, to unused club rooms and secluded corridors as she sings for all the songs that will never be heard and uses her voice to cry for the tears they don’t know to shed.

_I listen to a lullaby. All I have to do is wind this spring. It always sings the same song, without getting tired._

She hums, downstroke on the chords as kids run by screaming under the sunlight with hearts on their sleeves as she stands in the shade, a bystander through the looking glass.

Chie hums a never ending song, perched on a table.

_How long, how long will it go around? A scraping sound from the gears is heard over my voice. How long, how long will the door remain closed? Someone beckons from outside---_

A small downy feather floats into the corridor from high above, wing tipped yellow as something shone from the corner of her eye, like a premonition of what’s to come.

./

At night, she juggles the bag of snacks, the plastic cutting into her fingers as she strolls down the quiet road past the flickering street lights from the convenience store to her home as her ear strains in a sixth sense of unease.

Chie pauses, and decides to go investigate.

Placing the groceries by her favourite weirdly shaped bush across the street, Chie hops over the fence and blinks at the massive explosion from the classrooms at the sudden lack of an anti-noise bubble.

Ah. Gokudera and the fiasco.

Chie sneaks in, dashing through the purplish mist creeping closer and closer, trying to get deeper into the school. 

It’s not her fight. She shouldn’t get involved, but she’s curious.

If she doesn’t say anything-

_Even if it means people will die?_

Yuni and Gamma-

_This is not right. Is this the kind of person I am?_

Something cold slithers across her spine, and begins to creep towards her ribs. Chie shudders. It almost feels like there’s something shackling her bones as she briefly entertains the urge to just go back-

She stumbles forward, and her vision is spinning with dark circles. Red haunts the corner of her sight as she chokes on air, trying to find a way to just _breathe_.

Chie blinks rapidly, light-headed and confused as the darkness recedes. 

She finds herself standing in front of her house, mind wiped blank of how she got there.

Realisation has never been any colder.

Chie locks the door and shakes on the cool wooden floor, head buried against her knees.

./

Chie stares tiredly at the whiteboard as the teacher rambles on about history, pen held weakly between trembling fingers as small doodles fill up a page.

She tries to concentrate but her focus slides to the empty seat diagonally across, eyes roaming back to the guiltily shaking Tsuna who is gripping his notebook with white knuckled hands as their gaze suddenly meets.

Chie flinches and recovers immediately, offering a tired smile before turning back to the droning teacher.

Tsuna shrinks further back into his seat, shoulders sagging with burdened thoughts.

Chie couldn’t help but keep an eye out for him for the rest of the week. There’s not much that she’s involved with anyway.

./

“How’s your brother, Kyoko?” Hana broached the topic first as they gathered around the school idol’s table for their lunch routine. “Is he doing well?”

“Onii-chan’s recovering.” Kyoko says with a brief smile, shadows lurking in her knowing eyes. “Though I wish he’d tell me more about his 'sumo tournament'. I can’t help but worry.”

Hana eyes her as Kyoko gathers herself with a mental pat. “But he’s doing fine now, so it’ll be okay!”

“That’s a relief to hear.” Chie nods, chewing on her rice. “No serious injuries, yeah?”

“Thankfully none,” Kyoko cheers up at that, somehow. “I didn’t know Tsuna-kun joined the same sumo tournament as Onii-chan,” Chie discretely chokes in the background as Kyoko continues obliviously, “But it seems like they have it all in hand for the fight.”

“...Since when did Sawada learn to fight?” Hana states disbelievingly, chopsticks stabbed into her bento as Chie steals the opportunity to swipe a sausage, chewing savagely as Hana tries to wrap her head around the idea.

“Beats me,” Kyoko shrugs as she tucks into her food. “But I call it as I see it.”

Chie pauses, a thinking look on her face. “Who else was there during Ryo-senpai’s match?”

“Oh,” Kyoko blinks, “Tsuna-kun’s usual group of friends, along with his home tutor and another baby with a rifle.”

...Chie wants to laugh. “What does the baby do?”

“I think he’s Onii-chan’s trainer, actually.”

Hana snorts, drier than desert dust. “Since when do babies do anything more than eat, sleep or cry?”

Chie grins at her. Oh boy, these babies really do more than most will ever accomplish in their entire lifetime.

“Maybe they’re prodigies in their own right. So Kyoko,” honey yellow eyes turn to her, “When is Tsuna fighting? Did you ask?”

“Ah.” Kyoko mouths. “...I could ask him now?” 

The trio turns to a flailing Tsuna who seems to be saying something important to Yamamoto in a hushed discussion, all but rushing out of the classroom. 

“Or maybe later.” Kyoko ends off lamely, turning to other topics instead.

Chie looks at her and sees the sadness behind her false cheer. Kyoko worries for good reason, but her loved ones aren’t telling her anything. Sometimes, keeping people out of the loop for ‘their own good’ leads to nothing but misery on both sides.

Chie wants to tell her the truth, the facts. But whenever she opens her mouth, nothing leaves but air. The familiar, distant rattle of chains echoes in her mind.

She feels the beginning of frostbite cold creeping up her nerves.

Shaking her thoughts away, Chie refocuses on the conversation that has moved on without her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chie stares at the walls of the school building, a weird look on her face.

"Chie-chan?" Kyoko calls out, snapping her out of it and Chie turns to the brunette.

"Yeah?"

"You look kind of out of it. Do you need to take a break at the infirmary?"

Chie shakes her head. "I'm fine Kyoko-chan. The school building just looks kind of weird to me."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Kyoko questions, looking around as they walk into the building. "I don't see anything different?"

Chie shrugs, hair swinging against her back. "It looks kind of hazy. Fuzzy? Kind of like when you're trying to see something at the corner of your eye but it's not very clear. The more you try to focus on it the more it disappears? I don't really know how to explain it." 

Chie taps her chin, before giving up on it since Kyoko has that politely confused expression creeping onto her face.

"It's okay, Kyoko-chan. It might just be from the lack of sleep," Chie grins.

Kyoko purses her lips worriedly. "Did you have a nightmare again?"

Chie shakes her head. "Not really. I just had some trouble falling asleep, but that's all. Just thinking about some things in general, I guess."

Kyoko nods. "Remember to rest, at the very least. Otherwise it'll take a toll on your body."

"Yeah, I'll keep it in mind." Chie cheers at her, just as they reach the classroom and greet Hana together.

./

Chie privately wonders since when did she become sensitive to illusions and the like. It has never happened before.

...unless you count the time when she suddenly noticed the bright yellow and orange flare on Tsuna's forehead that day in school with Yamamoto's incident.

He should have been in Dying Will mode then, right? That day, and even earlier during the Mochida fight prior. But she never saw it during the rigged fight last year, even when Tsuna was in the throes of its effect, ripping his opponent's hair out during the hilarious match.

All she saw, like the rest of the general school population, is a half-naked boy screaming his lungs out with single-minded determination to achieve his goal.

So why, exactly, did she suddenly notice the existence of Dying Will Flames?

Chie tilts her head as she strolls back home, wondering.

The reason for the school to be damaged so badly that it had to be extensively covered in illusions at certain sections was, without doubt, due to the Ring Battles.

The very battles that she ran away from despite her actual thoughts otherwise.

The curiosity bubbling in her veins had been squashed into terror.

Fists tightening into a solid grip that creaks her bag handle, Chie hears it again, the rattling sound that turns her spine to ice and her gaze shadows.

Something is happening, and there's no one she can ask. Not with her noose, an invisible elephant in the room.

./

By the time a few days passed, Kyoko's visible fidgeting got onto Hana's nerves to the point that the girl purposely dragged the situation out from Kyoko, who explains that her brother was just released from the hospital after the sumo tournament.

"So it has finally concluded?" Chie raises an eyebrow. That's kind of fast. Or maybe that's because she's not keeping track of the time.

Kyoko nods, a contemplating expression on her face that edges into worry.

The trio walks down the shopping streets of Namimori's center as Kyoko tries to articulate it.

"I want to thank Tsuna-kun for looking after Onii-chan, actually. But he seems to be really busy with all his friends recently, so…"

"Okay then, what's the plan? I know you've been thinking about it." Chie jumps right into it, a cheeky smile on her face as she pulls Kyoko along, dragging their pace slightly ahead of Hana, approaching the food street.

Kyoko hums as she points at the bakery she's been raving about the past few days. "I'm coming down with Haru-chan this weekend to try these cakes and pick the best ones for Sawada-san, and maybe talk to Tsuna-kun at his house too."

Chie nods in approval. "A two pronged approach that satisfies your needs and your wants. Good job." She lifts a thumbs up, grinning as Kyoko pouts at her.

"But why the sudden urge to go talk to him privately?" Chie peers at her curiously. "Is it about Ryo-senpai and the 'sumo' tournament? Was there something unexpected that happened?"

Kyoko shakes her head. "Not that, although I must confess that I haven't thought about how to bring it up properly." She twiddles her fingers as they slowly approach the junction, lost in her thoughts.

"Tsuna-kun just seems so stressed out recently. I wanted to do something nice for him, and just, be there as a listening ear. But I don't want to pressure him into blindly agreeing either since he's so agreeable with practically anything."

"I… I want to let him know that I'll be there for him. Even when he's so worried about my safety, I want to let him know that I care for him too!" Kyoko nods, eyes lit in determination, before she suddenly deflates. "But I don't know how…"

"Take your time then." Chie pats her shoulder. "Sometimes, the words will come to you in the moment you need it the most."

"Thanks, Chie-chan." Kyoko briefly smiles. "It's been bothering me awhile, but I didn't want to worry anyone else about this, you know?"

Chie skips and hugs her as Kyoko startles into delighted laughter. "Chie-chan!"

"You're so sweet, Kyoko~" Chie snuggles her cheek against hers as Kyoko pretends to push her away, giggling all the while.

"Anyway, I think me and Hana can come and fetch you after your cake day with Haru-chan. Let us know what time we can come by? We can be your moral support!"

"Sure!"

./

"Hey, Hana?"

"Yeah?"

“Is it just me or does Haru-chan have a crush on you?”

Hana spits her tea.

“C-CHIE!” She chokes out in an extremely scandalised manner. 

“Hey now, you don’t have to judge other people’s preference just ‘cos they aren’t yours,” Chie pats her back condescendingly as Hana coughs out the errant liquid, eyes lit with mischief.

“What.” Hana grumbles disgruntledly at her paper cup, an unconvinced expression on her face as she glares at the smiling periot leaning on her. “How did you even get that idea?!” Hana whisper-shouts as she consciously keeps her eyes trained on Kyoko, who waves back at them from her table in the cafe.

Chie shrugs. “Hana, haven’t you noticed her stealing glances at you the entire time we’re here?”

Hana grimaces, pointedly turning her head away from Chie and leans away from the glass panelling of the cafe entrance. “We’re just here to pick up Kyoko after her Cake Appreciation Day, and I don’t really know Haru-san anyway. And besides,” Hana steals a wary glance at her chaotic friend. “Haru-san most definitely seems like she’s in some kind of love-hate relationship with the bomber monkey. If there’s anyone she’s developing a crush on, it’s him.”

Chie nods thoughtfully. “Haru-chan does seem like the kind who’d develop multiple crushes at once. I mean, look at her looking at  _ you _ ,” she teases, and the both of them glance back at the table only to make direct eye contact with the Haru, who startles and blushes a fetching red upon being caught.

“She’s staring.” Chie grins as Hana rolls her eyes and pushes open the cafe door. “And then you stared back~”

“Shut up Chie. Before I make you.”

“Aww, love you too Hana.”

A hard jab to the stomach is the answer to her declaration of love. Oof.

./

"Do you think two boxes are enough? Should I get more?"

"Kyoko-chan, it's okay, really. Sawada-san isn't expecting gifts so you don't need to worry."

"Tsuna-kun's friends often stay over right? Then there's Reborn-chan, Lambo-chan, Ipin-chan and-"

Kyoko flails internally. Hana wisely keeps mum as Chie tries her best to comfort her panicking friend.

"Look, we can always bring more over tomorrow… oh hey, there's Tsuna-san."

Kyoko flicks her gaze up, and lo and behold a panicking Tsuna is running at full speed ahead, searching high and low for something.

"Tsuna-kun?"

"A-ah Kyoko-chan! What are you doing here?" ...Yep there's the one track mind of a maiden in love. What are the rest of the side characters? Air?

Chie quietly snorts as the two drop into conversation in their own little world. Hana rolls her eyes as Chie squats with her face cupped in her palms to watch.

Seems like Reborn went missing earlier, according to the flailing brunette. His tutor was nowhere to be found despite disappearing right before his very eyes.

Chie looks at Tsuna with a steely gaze, eyes narrowing onto the gleaming ring held in place around his neck.

By tomorrow, everything starts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies, Gentlemen, Everyone.   
> Please put on your seatbelts. We’re about to start the acceleration *winks*


	7. Chapter 7

"...Kyoko?" Chie spins around in confusion. Wasn't she right behind her as they left the Sawada residence?

The cupcake delivery went over rather well so where's-

A loud explosion rings between her ears as she's suddenly engulfed in black.

The world spins.

./

_ Oh shit. _

That was her last thought as she suddenly spirals into a whirling multicoloured vortex that drags her into a destination unknown, dumping her onto a puddle with a splash.

Chie stares exasperatedly at her situation. Was she just hit by Lambo’s bazooka?

“Achoo!” Chie sniffs back a snot, shivering in the dark tunnel as the odourless pink smoke eventually dissipates. It leaves behind a foul chemical taste in her mouth as she gags lightly, coughing as she stumbles forward. Looking around the area in dismay, she picks a random direction to go forward in, straining her ears all the while for sounds.

Rule one of survival, don’t stay where you just ended up in.

With a hand guiding her way against the tunnel walls, Chie walks warily towards the light source the moment she spots it. 

“Woah.”

A hand over her eyes, she squints at the bright, lush forest greeting her. It’s like practically out of a nature documentary!

Wandering around aimlessly, Chie spies many abandoned warehouses in the distance beyond the treeline.

...Well, it’s not like she has anything else she can do. Shrugging, she hikes her way there with only the birds for company. All around her are the prime showcase of a thriving ecosystem, terribly bright with life and she feels so out of place here, her gut pinging weird signals the closer she gets to her destination.

Strange. Hasn’t it been more than five minutes already?

_...but why is she here? _

_ She's not part of the main cast, so why was she brought to the future? _

Sweat trickles down her brow as she finally breaks past the treeline to hear- shouts?

Oh hey, multi-coloured fire!

“DUCK!”

Someone screams. Chie shoots down to the ground instinctively as something solid crashes into the bark right where her head was. Whipping her head around to survey the hole, Chie flinches back as something crashes up ahead.

There goes rule one straight into the garbage. 

She turns around and—

Gokudera shouts, arm poised in the air and a vortex of red roars to life. 

"Woah. Dude." Her jaw drops, and Chie can only watch in awe as the sea of flames engulf their prey.

...Oh right. The future arc. She better get out of dodge. 

Biting her lips as she prays for her stealth to not fail the moment she needs it the most, she slowly crawls closer with a veritable mass of twigs and leaves that will hopefully blend with her black hoodie.

By some miracle, the fighters in the chaotic mess in front of her had yet to discover her presence, apart from that one close call earlier. That is, until the warehouse directly across her had something punch straight through the roof without warning and crash painfully to the ground a distance away.

“Argh!!!” A brat in a black uniform screams as he’s engulfed in a torrent of red Flames, fainting with a thud.

Chie scrambles forward the moment the fight dies down, running towards Gokudera as he spins around like she’s a potential enemy. 

“It’s me!” She shouts.

The scary look on his face drops back into a sneer, thankfully, as she suddenly spots the prone form of Yamamoto, Haru and the kids. 

“Are they alright?” She checks them over, a highly worried frown on her face as Gokudera narrows his eyes at her, clicking his tongue as he carefully rolls Yamamoto over to check his breathing.

“Chie-san? You’re young too?” Tsuna runs over with Kyoko not too long after, surprised and horrified in equal measure at the situation.

“Uhm, if I think I understand what you mean, yes? I’m the same age as you?” She spares him a minimum amount of attention as she quickly gathers the kids in her arms. “You’ve been missing for a day, Tsuna-san.”

“O-Oh.” Tsuna scratches his head, awkwardly dithering at his spot. “Sorry? I was looking for my missing tutor… Ahahaha.”

Shaking her head, Chie carefully moves over and passes the dusty Lambo and Ipin to Kyoko. “Can you help me lift up Haru, Tsuna-san? We need to get medical attention.”

“Ah right! This way!”

./

Peering around the dreary base in hidden awe, her eyes roam the ceiling and walls non-stop the moment they walk past the shiny pink barrier. Coolness, MAX.

Seriously, future-Tsuna, how did you have the time to design such a complex infrastructure? Your spartan trainer would have taken up most of your energy everyday. Or your job.

As the injured are carted off to the medical bay, Chie takes the opportunity to roam around and say hello. Her aimless feet leads her down the hallway, and the double doors on her right suddenly opens to show-

“Hello there, welcome to the base!”

A pudgy round ball passing itself off as a man greets her happily as she blinks at him. “Oh, hello…?”

“I’m Giannini, it’s nice to meet you.” Wiping off his sweat with a white handkerchief, he offers a hand to shake.

Well, as manners must, she greets him back, taking his hand. “Chie, nice to meet you too,” she echoes. “Do you have a floor plan I can use to explore around?”

“Ah sure! Just give me a moment.” Giovanni turns back to his computer and rapidly keys in her request. Chie marvels at the machines around her, eyes darting to the surveillance system in the background, looking back just as he moves to the printer and hands her a couple of papers. 

“Not everything is in here since there’s still construction going on, but the first few levels of the underground base is free for you to walk around. Just be careful of the lower levels okay?”

“No restricted access areas?”

“Uh…” Caught, Giovanni grins sheepishly. “Well, the lifts will require an access card if a personnel needs to head to a restricted floor. Hope you can understand.”

“Sure.” She nods agreeably and thanks him, leaving him to his devices as she walks down her initial path. ‘So the cameras are around…’

Tapping her fingers against her side, she cheekily commits them to memory, humming as a smile tugs at her lips. Does one still need an access card in case of an emergency?

Chie spins on her heel and heads towards the opposite direction, her sights set on the fire exits.

She doubts that Giannini will do more than go back to sleep right after she left, judging from the massive eye bags and the fabric imprints on his face.

A smile creeps onto her face. With no one to monitor the cameras in real time, she's free to explore however she wants.

./

...Ah, she forgot that this will happen.

She forgot just how strongly Kyoko feels about her family, her loved ones.

Chie leans against the counter wordlessly as the waterworks start, glancing at the slightly worried, angry expression on the fatigued boys as they leave the room.

"Kyoko-chan!" Haru wails with a wobbly expression, hugging Kyoko. "We were so worried about you!"

Kyoko pats her back as Haru tightens her hug, sobbing into her shirt. "We didn't know where you went!"

"Sorry, Haru-chan. Sorry Chie-chan. I wanted to find my brother." Kyoko glances at Chie guiltily while Haru unleashes her emotions. If it wasn't for Chie sharing all the fire exits with them on the first day, Kyoko didn't think she would have found her way out of the base so easily.

"I won't do it again." Kyoko bites her lip. Something bitter began bubbling up. She wasn't being a good friend by leaving Haru and Chie here alone.

She didn't mean to make them worried, nor to abandon them.

"No," Chie steps forward, her expression completely lacking the usual distant look she always wore. "I'm sorry too. I should've been more aware about my friends. At the very least, I could've helped you try to find your brother together instead of letting you worry about it on your own."

Kyoko looks into Chie's eyes and sees deep understanding and regret.

Chie wasn't blaming her at all. In fact, she knows how much Kyoko cares for her brother and has stressed herself out numerous times in looking after him. 

She isn't good with physical activities, nor her body is suited for martial arts. But she does have her smarts and acting.

If pretending to be happy and being alright all the time does its job, then so be it.

Sasagawa Ryohei is a strong man, and Kyoko has to try her best.

—because who else would look after his back?

_ Please be safe, Onii-chan. _


	8. Chapter 8

“Tsuna-san? Hello~? Earth to Tsuna-san?”

"…Tsuna-kun!" She shouts.

“A-ah?!” He startles, jerking his head up and scrambles to his feet. “Chie-chan? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you.” She raises an unimpressed eyebrow at his beaten up form, drawing his eyes to the laundry basket beside her feet. “You hiding here to mope in silence? I can leave if you want.”

“Oh- no, that’s okay. It’s nothing much, really,” Tsuna shakes his head in denial. “I’m alright,” he smiles at her, wincing as he pulls against his bruises.

Chie purses her lip at his act. It’s extremely rare for Tsuna to purposefully hide in the hallways, but given the brutal training he must have undergone for the past couple of days, it’s also pretty understandable.

“Okay.” Hugging the basket against her hip, she drags Tsuna by the arm as he splutters in shock.

“Chie-chan???”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me. But from what I see, you definitely need a good cup of hot chocolate at the very least.”

"Go give yourself diabetes," she whispers with a cheer, giving him a wink and a thumbs-up.

Grinning, she deposits him in the safe hands of Haru and Kyoko in the midst of dinner preparations. “Tsuna-kun is feeling pretty down, so I’d like to request hot chocolate and snacks on his behalf. I’ll leave the rest to you!!” 

Chie skips away, entirely too pleased with herself as Tsuna splutters in the background to the voice of the girls fussing over him.

./

Yawning, Kyoko rubs her eyes tiredly as she walks towards the baths, drained from a day's work when she spots a turf of white hair round the corner.

Wait.

"ONII-CHAN!"

"Hmm? Kyoko?"

"Onii-chan!" Kyoko barrels into warm, safe arms as she tucks her face into the comforting fabric smell of ash and musk. "Onii-chan…"

"There there," Ryohei pats her head, gruff voice as fond as always. "It's good to see you again Kyoko. Although, you look Extremely short!"

Kyoko couldn't help it. She giggles.

"I've missed you too, Onii-chan." She peers at him with worried eyes, taking in all the changes, from the unevenness of his jaw to the small scars dotting his face in addition to the most prominent one in her memory. Kyoko sighs and snuggles closer to her only sibling. "I was so, so worried."

Ryohei hugs her tighter, inhaling the old, familiar scent of lavender shampoo and something so quintessentially Kyoko.

"I'm here now," he rumbles. "Your Onii-chan will Extremely protect you!"

Kyoko smiles in relief, dragging him along to meet the other girls having their daily cuppa before anyone turns in for bed.

"Chie-chan, Haru-chan, I found Onii-chan!" She beams as the other girls light up together.

"Hahi! I'm Haru, nice to meet you again Ryohei-oniisan!"

"Oh, Ryo-senpai!" Chie grins at him over her cup of tea. "Seems like you grew even taller."

"Chie-chan, just call me Onii-san already," he practically pouts as Chie laughs.

"Nope. Don't wanna." She teases, playing with her mug. 

Chie looks at them with a false smile as her head throbs. The more the days go by here, the more persistent the low level headache gets. She doesn't understand why since she's been healthy all the while.

She watches from the sidelines, as Chrome suddenly appears one day, rushed into the base's infirmary a few hours after Tsuna and co. ran out in such a hurry, with a grim-faced adult Hibari dragging two badly injured Guardians back.

He doesn't even spare her a glance, and somehow, it stings.

Chie keeps her thoughts to herself, knowing her place, even as Haru and Kyoko eventually rebel at the pointed lack of truths and information blatantly being kept from them.

She stays still and quiet in the background as things get thrown down, loudly shouted and endures the pointed, daggered silence for days.

She watches as Yamamoto disappears to the lower training floors with Reborn by his side, or Gokudera frantically muttering research even as he comically avoids Bianchi despite her best attempts to reach out to her estranged half-sibling.

Chie looks on with sad eyes as her body lulls, dragging her down through soft molasses as she watches time pass them by in a blazing glory of youth, desperation and determination.

She quietly excuses herself the day a comatose Tsuna gets carted to the sick bay under strict monitoring equipment, and hears the news that he somehow wakes before dawn, everyone sighing in relief at the lynchpin surviving the close death attempt.

Chie knows and wishes she could hate herself for it. She looks on with deadened heart as everyone pushes and pushes, passionate flames ( _Dying Will_ _Flames, her mind whispers_ ) burning bright like a comet before the final flare. 

Chie wants to do it too. She wants to push, to fight for a cause, to fight for not just what's right but for everything that she wants to stand for.

But she can't. She can't.

The tight, unforgiving noose around her neck clenches tight every time she cocks her head, every lingering gaze she makes.

She's no one. Nobody. Cannon fodder. Maybe not even that.

She sits by Chrome's bedside, silent as the spectre on the bed, whose face and lips are pasty white in discomfort as she struggles even while unconscious.

Chie envies her.

To be able to struggle and fight. What a blessing it is.

She hugs her knees by the visitor's chair and eyes the flashing device just barely visible in the girl's school bag and wonders if she should say something. Anything. 

She sits and stares, until the decision is taken from her as Hibari strides into the room, cool grey eyes roaming over her as he barely even pauses, heading over to pinch the bugged device with long, lithe fingers.

Chie looks back at him evenly as their eyes meet.

She turns back to Chrome, completely ignoring him as she places her chin on her knees. The cold air-conditioning in the room is exactly what she needs.

The future isn't a kind place to be in. He should know that better than any of the other Guardians.

He doesn't say anything, simply walking past her, as swift as before.

Chie buries her head and simply  _ breathes _ or else she'll cry and if she cries she doesn't think she can stop.

So she breaths, deep breaths full of hot vapour curling against her face with every exhale as she drowns out the voices in her head.

She prods the concrete looking wall separating her emotions.

It doesn't even bounce back.

At least the room's chill is as familiar as the icy ones holding her ankles. 

_ It's okay, it'll be fine, _ she tells herself. The more she says it, maybe one day she'll believe in it too.

_ They'll work it out. Everything will be fine _ .

She sits there, and she feels herself wither away even more inside. Chie closes her eyes to the beeping of the heart monitor and tries to lull herself to sleep.

./

The boys are celebrating something, a last minute party that requires the rest of the base helpers to pull all the stops for dinner tonight. Chie can't complain, seeing the terrified look just beneath the happy veneer of the teenagers as they prepare for the main course of the future.

Hibari's already chugged down a glass of tea and a light meal, ghosting out of the room the moment someone turns their attention to him.

Chie makes sure her smile never slips as she bids goodnight to all the fighters, fully throwing herself into the cleanup with the girls, Fuuta and Bianchi.

_ So...it starts. Tonight. Tomorrow. _

_ Let the cogs of fate take you where you're meant to go. _

If she were to believe in any higher being at all, perhaps now would be a good time to make a prayer to any cosmic force that has been watching over them.

She kneels on her bed and thinks,

_ To do as one must for the brightest future. _

_ To live for what is right and just, for the world. _

_ Success where it matters. The only way that matters. _

_ She hopes and she prays as bright wings of light flap across the myriad oceans and arrow down to her, to this time of harried hopes and despair. _

Chie wishes… for a peaceful future that all of them can build with their own hands.

To reverse the tragic march of fate inflicted upon countless lives, countless of worlds. A miracle.

_ And somewhere, somehow, something shines. _


	9. Chapter 9

There's no time to contemplate and think by the end of it.

The agreed upon date has arrived, and faith is all they have left. By the time they conclude the last minute meeting with HQ, it's already the dawn of the Melone base raid. Lal throws herself head first into it, entirely intent on enacting revenge for Colonello.

The entire plan went belly up the moment the first tremors started and looking back, Lal can only count her blessings that the man in charge of the enemy base isn't truly on the opposing side, or who knows how else it would've ended.

Even the baby Decimo's life was saved on a mere whim of his opponent. Geniuses tend to have a screw loose in their heads, no matter which discipline they're in. If it wasn't for that…

Lal shakes her head, forcibly bringing her mind off that tangent and tries to sit up, wincing as her wounds curse her from top to bottom, a terrible, achy feeling making itself known in her joints.

Lal grits her teeth in consternation, flopping back onto the mattress.

Curse the stupid anti-Trinisette radiation and her weakening body. Her reflexes are so disgustingly slow that it's no wonder the Gingerbread doll could hit her so.

If only she's in her prime fighting form…

Lal clenches her fist as she reflects from her bed in the infirmary, cursing her weakness even as the young Vongola brats celebrate the victory quietly (read: less rambunctious than usual) in the medical ward next door.

Her head throbs, phantom pains still lingering from the anti-Trinisette radiation she’s exposed to the moment she stepped out of the protective field. The Melone base raid took a huge toll on her, not that she'll admit it to anyone else.

It was a mere fluke that a series of coincidences led to Irie Shouichi to be on their side, no matter how she tries to think about it. And these things don't just drop out of the sky. There's always a kind of payment somewhere, somehow.

One of the kids in Sawada's company should be connected to this nonsense, her gut feeling says. Lal just can't figure out how.

./

“–At the very least, I’d like to meet all the time travelers up close and personal. And maybe say hi to Chie-chan.”

Chie freezes, staring wide-eyed at the door in front of her. Her hand falters from where it was about to knock on the door, knuckles gripped tight against the basket of cookies.

“Eh? ‘Chie-chan’ as in–”

She spins on her heels and leaves, her heartbeat pounding in her ear, confusion and fear haunting her footsteps.

But as she walks, something inside her gnaws at her gut, telling her to turn back. That there's something important she has to do. That she has to make sure of.

Every step she takes as she walks further and further away — it is pure agony.

She stops.

With clenched fists, she turns back and marches straight into her impending doom.

"—What? Didn't you know? Chie-chan is _very_ important." She hears Byakuran's voice as she slides open the door, drawing everyone's attention to her.

She smiles, teeth bared. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Chie-chan?! You're not supposed to be here!" Tsuna startles at the sight of her in the briefing room, clearly flustered at her presence.

She casts a sweeping glance around the room and places the basket on the nearest surface, taking in the blank stares with strange calmness and slowly faces the monitor. Byakuran smirks, inclining forward as if she has caught his interest.

"How sweet of you to finally join us, Chie-chan. I was beginning to worry that I did not mess with Sho-chan's time machine properly!"

Pressing against the instinctive flinch at his words, Chie takes a deep breath and, almost immediately, she has the perfect plastic smile bright on display. 

"I'm sorry but who are you? Why are you addressing me so familiarly?" She blinks, and as if it is an afterthought, she adds; "Are you one of Tsuna's friends?" 

"Well, you can say that. My name's Byakuran!" The man chirps, ignoring the outraged cries from the people in the room. He stares at her with greed. 

"Do you want to become my Rain?"

"...Huh?" Chie almost spits out the word, her voice reverberating almost too loudly in the suddenly silent room. 

"Wha-What do you mean by that!" Gokudera shouts, disbelief colouring his face. Tsuna whips his head back and forth between the monitor and Chie, his shoulders tense and eyes filled with worry and confusion.

He isn't the only one confused. Everyone is clueless on what the Millefiore's Boss is talking about. Especially Chie.

"Rain," she repeats, testing the word like it has suddenly turned foreign. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don’t know what you mean?"

"It's alright; I can teach you all about it." Byakuran sings, glee lighting up his features. "I will give you what you want the most, and I will treat you better than any of them."

"Just become my Rain."

Chie frowns. "I don't understand—"

"Don't lie, Chie-chan," Byakuran hums, maniac glint prominent in his wild eyes. Even though it is through a monitor, Chie feels utterly terrified. But there's still something nagging at her. There's still—

"These people aren't giving you what you deserve, are they?"

She grits her teeth. Just what is this man going on about?

"I know you are so much more than what you seem to be, Chie-chan. Come to me, and I'll give you anything you can dream of."

She takes a deep breath. 

Lal grips her fists tight in her pockets. She glares heatedly at Byakuran as the room descends into chaos.

"Wait -wait, what does Byakuran mean?! Chie-chan?" Tsuna shrieks, terrified out of his wits as everyone stares at the anomaly in the room. How could Chie—

...something's not right.

Tsuna whips his head around. His friends are staring at her with confusion, a wary slant to their shoulders. A glint of hostility appears in Fuuta's eyes as he glared daggers at Byakuran.

Something is—

Reborn looks like he's about to shoot with real bullets, Tsuna’s scalp tingles as his hair rises up.

Lal looks like she's about to do something drastic—

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The room screeches to a halt.

Tsuna freezes at her glacier tone as the others visibly unsettle.

Soft, well-cultured syllables enrapture her audience.

"I don't need anything from you, Byakuran. I never have, and I never will. Even if we've just met."

The room fell as silent as static. 

"...Hey, Chie-chan. Do you want to know what you've become in the future?"

Pale lavender eyes track his prey, his audience, a cruel tick lining the edge of his smile. He picks up a marshmallow, twirling it between dexterous fingers as he awaits her response.

... there's no reason for her to even consider, rejection immediately falling out of her lips as she glares vehemently at the monitor screen. 

She's trembling, Tsuna notices, knuckles clenching tighter and tighter as seconds go by.

Byakuran pushes on, as if she hadn't voiced her disagreement.

"You are going to become the strongest Flame user ever known to mankind." He says with utter conviction that has made men cry for less. The entire room is tensed like a coiled snake, ready to lash out at anything thrown in their way.

"Hey, I wonder if you can see it — _feel it_ , Chie-chan. Or do you prefer to be addressed by your title, future Rain Arcobaleno?" 

Chie's eyes widen.

_What?_

He smirks cruelly.

Her head hurts. She can feel her heart clenching painfully in her chest at every word that spills from those poisonous lips.

"I'm sure you have noticed it, haven't you? This incomplete world, bound by its cornerstones. The same choices and outcome spun by the roulette — the one that we foolishly call our destiny and fate — over and over again. I'm sure you're sick of it too, right?"

"That's why you're so amazing, Chie-chan. You understand everything the world wanted to hide, easily comprehending things the current generation of Arcobaleno couldn't — that's why. Yes, that's why. This is exactly why I shall extend my hand to you."

"You are a miracle in this world. Be **mine** , Chie."


	10. Chapter 10

Lal and Reborn sit at the table in silence, coffee mugs no longer steaming.

The kitchen is quiet, the earlier mealtime a tense affair as teenagers silently milled about, glancing at Chie every now and then while she took it in stride. 

Her shaking hands, however, say otherwise.

Reborn is the first to speak up. "What's your observation of her, Lal? Or what do you know about her older self?"

Straight to the point as always. Lal shakes her head slightly. "Nothing that particularly stands out. An average athletic build, more suited for gymnastics than any kind of combat sport. She's often seen with Kyoko and Hana duo, but she went missing a few months back."

"Her personality fits with the typical description of Rains, but…" Lal looks consternated.

"She's Inactive."

Reborn tilts his fedora downwards. "Still a civilian, huh?"

That makes no sense, went unsaid. 

How could Chie, in the future, qualify to be selected as the Strongest Seven in such a short span of time if she isn’t currently at their level? If she’s still a civilian, it’ll only make sense if she has Rain Flames as strong as Skull’s Cloud ones.

And yet, she hasn’t even unlocked her Flames at this point, when most of the current Arcobaleno are almost gone. None of them knew if Checkerface even plans to show up and prove Byakuran’s words true.

….Can they even trust his words?

Lal grips the handle tightly, contemplating something.

Reborn hops off the chair. "I'm going to talk to Irie Shouichi." Lal nods, letting out a slow breath as she slumps forward.

When the hitman leaves, she digs out Colonello's pacifier from her pocket and stares at it. Just now, at that time, this thing started to…

She slams a fist onto the table.

"Dammit."

./

Chie lies on her bed, her body curling inwards like she's trying to create a shield over her prone form.

She wonders what that man had meant.

There is no way she can be the future Arcobaleno. In fact, no Arcobaleno should exist after this current generation. That much, she is very clear.

Her presence in this world is already an oddity itself and never has she ever made it known. Chie has played according to the rules — karma will not strangle her.

Ah, that's right. How could she have forgotten? 

Maybe it has been so long that she has grown complacent. Maybe it was because of the excitement of hanging out with a group of fictional characters.

How foolish of her. Stupid Chie.

She bites her lip.

In a distant memory, in a completely different lifetime, someone had once told her about karma.

The only reason why everyone's favourite protagonist could get to where they were is all because of the accumulation of ideals, sins, and everything else that came together. It is all because of karma. 

An unknown singularity can screw up the roulette, spinning choices that are not meant to exist, effectively corrupting the cornerstones that hold this world, this universe, in place.

That is, if they can last long enough before karma eliminates them.

Her throat clams up.

...Karma.

To think such a simple word holds too much weight for a mere human being to understand.

Chie is sure that if she hadn't known of it, she would've been like any starry-eyed teenagers who want to change what has already been laid out.

But, that time, during the Ring Battles… 

Chie shakes at the memory of the icy cold shackles holding her down as she all but blacked out, turned into a puppet in her own skin, directed by the fate of something that's not hers.

She may not completely understand karma but she knows of it. After all, that was not the first time.

Chie knows her place. And those stupid chains had proven that karma exists, too. It is the only reason why she behaves as she is. It is the only reason why she is so adamant in keeping peace. The side — no, the background character, Chie.

So, _why?_

Why did Byakuran claim that? No. Why did her future self become an Arcobaleno?

 _No_ , Chie closes her eyes, _that's not it either_.

The real question is: why did she decide to break character?

If Chie had truly not stood out, that kind of thing — it would've never happened.

Her eyes burn.

She just wanted to live. It didn't matter if she had to play as a side character or have her actions shackled by fate; as long as she could live, none of it mattered.

She can still recall the beautiful scenery. The miniaturized ocean in a huge container. It never seemed to end, the perfect blue stretching across the entire tunnel. It was mesmerizing.

The infinite majesty of the cold, blue water as it loomed over her. 

She remembers the unforgiving pressure, the flying glass gouging out her vision as everything went red.

And then, dark, sharp pain.

Chie shudders. Her hands tremble.

She was barely an adult. 

No. Not even an adult. She hasn't even graduated.

She doesn't want to die young. Not again.

Tears slide down her cheeks.

Is it so wrong wanting to live?

She buries her head at her knees, desperate to push all these thoughts away. She takes a few deep breaths, and tries to analyse the situation as she thinks back to Byakuran's words.

Her gut churns. She shakes her head.

Then, something clicks.

Ah, right. There was that strange feeling just now. It was so compelling, as if something was drawing her into the room. It felt… warm, for once. Confusingly warm.

On cue, a force tugs at her eyelids, lulling her into the depths of the abyss. Chie drowns as she sleeps. 

./

When Reborn visits Irie Shouichi's temporary room in the base, it has been turned upside down. Books and clothes are scattered haphazardly on most surfaces as the lone occupant sat on the floor with a constipated look.

"Did you know of this?"

Shouichi vehemently shakes his head. His skin has long turned into a sickly pale shade as he tugs at his hair.

"What's going on? Why can't I remember any of this?" He chants, as if repeating them would give him an answer. "Byakuran never made _any_ mention of her; I would have remembered it!"

Shouichi tears his hair in frustration as green eyes dart wildly with his thoughts, countenance just shy of full blown panic.

Reborn keeps to himself at the corner of the room, quiet and dangerous.

So many questions, so many missing answers, and very little time.

Shouichi scrubs his head, stress lines prominent as he looks back at the computer screen. First thing first - the preparation for the Choice battle and the Arcobaleno trials.

./

Chie knows that this is the arc to the past, from the joyous expression on everyone's faces while waiting for Shouichi, who buries himself into making the time machine work.

The goal is for the Vongola rings to have additional firepower unlocked by obtaining all the seals of the Arcobaleno back in their original time, and Chie knows that Reborn's been teasing Tsuna about his own seal, given the entirely smug smirk on the Sun Arcobaleno's face as he rides on Tsuna's shoulder during the trip to the nearly unoccupied Melone base.

Shouichi leads them through a secret path reserved for the base commander, an unexpected reminder that for all his attitude towards stress and Byakuran, the red haired man is anything but incompetent or weak.

He's a double spy who lived as a 'best friend' to a near omnipresent dictator, and that's an amazing feat in and of itself.

After all, Chie muses, it takes a very special kind of person to catch and keep Byakuran's interest across the multiple timelines and parallel worlds.

./

The greenish glow fades. Sparkles disappear.

Chie stands there, disappointed and terrified and alone.

All her peers are gone, disappeared back into the time where they originally belong.

"Wha- this can't be! I'm sure I got the calculations right! Everyone else got sent to the past without issue?!" Shouichi panics, scratching his messy bed hair before fingers fly over the keyboard. 

"There shouldn't be an issue with any of the machines. The readings are all stable." He looks at the graphs, tracking the expected results in confusion.

Spanner crunches his sweet with a tense jaw as he silently double checks everything but Chie.

Chie… stands there. Alone.

A mysterious glow faintly emanates from her as she stares at her shaky fingers.

"...Hah." A small smile cracks out of her, as if she has just discovered something amusing.

Shouichi whips his head around and approaches her, worried. "Are you carrying a device that is interfering with the machine—? Chie-san…?"

_You were never going to let me go home, right?_

Wretched laughter tears out of her throat as if clawing its way out, the sound sharp and raw. 

Chie laughs even as she chokes. 

Her throat is clamming up on her even when her lungs are screaming for air, determined to squeeze out every breath of life from her.

She collapses to the ground in disbelief and understanding. She knew something like this would happen.

Chie curls up on the floor, hands hugging her frail shoulders as she cries. Her hollow laughter echoing throughout the base. Cool fingers dig sharply into her skin, tears streaming down her face as she laughs at herself, the fool.

_Why did I ever expect otherwise?_

Even though it is according to what she knows, everything else was out of her expectations. In the first place, why is she even here? She is just a background character. She stayed out of everything. And yet, she is here.

Nothing makes sense.

She is stressed, scared and she wants to go home. She —

_(She just wanted to live.)_

Chie stares at herself, terribly broken-hearted. Once again she’s chained, leaving her out of things, making it out of her control. 

Of course she has to be zapped into the future, and then being unable to leave with the rest.

Bandaged feet carefully edge into her vision.

She looks up with blurry eyes. _Lal Mirch?_

"Was that unsurprising to you?" The woman voices gruffly with an arched eyebrow, leaning heavily on her crutch. "Anyway, stand up. Let's test something before they get back."

...test? What is there to test? There is nothing to test.

Chie looks tiredly at Lal Mirch, unwilling.

In a faint distance, there is a rattling of chains. Chie smiles.

Right.

The girl slowly gets up on her feet, dusting her clothes and looks back at everyone as if nothing has happened.

Her eyes have no light. Lifeless. Hopeless. Resigned.

Lal clicks her tongue in annoyance. "Screw with this," she mumbles with an inaudible sigh. She digs into her pocket, and throws something at Chie.

Chie instinctively reaches out to catch it, almost tripping over her own feet. Her eyes widen as she stares at the blue pacifier falling into her hands.

Just as the shining pacifier touches her skin, she accidentally gets a glance at Lal's stoic face.

The world fades to black.

./

_She wakes up in a sea of white, floating aimlessly in purgatory. It feels cold, yet warm. She feels suffocated, yet refreshed. A strange feeling. She can hear the unnerving noise of chains in a distance but it is too muted. As if it cannot reach her. But, nevertheless, it is a reminder._

_Chie opens her eyes, willing forth the energy to play her role. However, what greets her is emptiness._

_She sits up and looks around._

_The world is foggy. There is no temperature in the air, no wind and no smell either. Everything is far too faint. Muted. Empty._

_She’s sitting on a floor of grass, but there’s no prickling sensation. She sees the leaves swaying in the air, branches brushing against each other, and when she turns her head to the side, she sees the beach where the waves are crashing against the sand but she feels nothing and hears no noise._

_She looks up to the sky and instead of a vibrant blue, all she sees is a mesh of white and grey clouds, fumbling about with each other as the sky hovers._

_The world has no colours._

_Chie stands, swaying as she goes, and lets her feet wander. They take her to an unseen path towards a pergola, hidden behind the thick foliage of colourless flowers. There is a river next to her as she walks towards it, leading to the waterfall far behind in the distance. The water flows backwards, she sees._

_Her feet stop, and she pauses in surprise, turning to look at the figure sitting calmly at the pergola. The figure has two cup and saucer sets ready on the table as they pour themselves a steaming cup of tea. Chie can’t help but stare._

_It is not because of how out of place the figure is in this blank world, nor is it because of the fact that the figure looks strikingly familiar._

_No. It is because of the blue pacifier._

_There is a blue pacifier resting innocently on the figure’s chest._

_The figure puts down their cup and glances at her with a smile._

_“Care to join for tea? It's your favourite.”_

_They motion towards the other cup, left on the other side of the table for her. Chie walks up to the pergola, cautious and unsure, but moves into her seat anyway. The figure pours her a cup. Chie does not touch her porcelain, and neither does the figure._

_Instead, they sit there in silence and gaze at each other, as though looking at their own faces in the mirror._

_Chie grips her trousers, fisting the fabric into a tight crumpled ball. She bites her lips. “...No...You couldn’t be…”_

_The figure smiles._

_“It is a pleasure to meet you, Chie.”_

_She shakes in her seat, head bowing as she stares at her reflection in her tea. “Why?”_

_"What do you think happens?" The person asks, taking the first sip. Perfect serenity ripples across the waters as Chie stares at them in incomprehension._

_They trace the rim of their cup, smile never fading from their face. “Do you think everything will go according to what you know? I’m sure you, of all people, should know that that isn’t the case.”_

_“But in the-” Chie tries to interject but the words fall short. “It should end up how it is intended to be.” She finishes lamely._

_The figure laughs._

_“Karma; I'm sure you know how that works, right?"_

_Chie stills. "Was my presence…"_

_Did it affect the story that much?_

_Silence greets her and Chie finds it unbearable. She lifts up her head and finally looks at the figure properly, straight into their eyes. In that moment, whatever Chie has found in their eyes, she understands._

_She understands, but she doesn't want to. Chie knows this, and the figure knows too._

_Steely gaze filled with something unreadable, the figure stares back at her._

_“They will get there eventually, just like how everything is dictated. The process must not be disturbed.”_

_“After all - even you, even me. We're all part of the Plan."_

_Their smile drops. "But, how can you be sure that you're in the correct timeline?"_

_Chie's eyes widen._

_There is a sound of ringing bells and the curtains begin to draw to a close on cue. The lacquer filled with dreams is running out. The foliage around them gets shut out behind the doors as the stage starts to collapse._

_"Our role is not with them but in the story. We have a choice too, you know."_

_The figure smirks at her in self-depreciation as they begin to fade away into smoke and grey._

_"You're welcome for the heads up. Remember not to choke on the sound of your own breathing."_

_"-wait!"_

_Chie calls out futilely to the curling wisps passing between her fingers; the scraping noise of gears drowns out her voice from above._ _She needs to reach out towards it. The fragment of a path that she would've walked._

_For once, she wishes the figure would stop smiling._

_Because—_

_Chie can see the tears streaming down their face as they reach back towards her, fading arms engulfing her in a comforting hug._

_"The tolling of the bell has come. Let the miracles guide your way." The figure leans in, their existence fading fast. They whisper something into her ear._

_They disappear and the world shatters._

_Chie glimpses beyond the horizon, across the rainbow, silhouettes of six welcoming their seventh. Like a mirage, Chie suddenly has a flash of memory—_

./

"You're late." Lal greets the hitman from the far corner of the ward, standing near Chie's bed.

"Lal," Reborn says as his eyes find their way to Chie. A blue pacifier rests in her hand, shining in tandem with his.

He raises an eyebrow.

This wasn't what he expected when Chie was missing from the group during the trials.

"It's just like what we had thought." Lal begins, reaching for the pacifier. She tugs at it and Chie's grip tightens. "She's not letting go of it." 

The unconscious girl lies on the white sheets, breathing softly as the two stare at her.

Reborn tilts his fedora, contemplating.

"Go deal with Vongola," Lal encourages. "I'll watch over her."

./

Days pass and time flies.

Kyoko looks after Chie, bringing her meals even though the sleeping girl can't eat.

They try to take turns feeding the unconscious girl, feeling guilty over leaving her behind, even if none of them could have expected it.

Kyoko places her hand on Chie's cold forehead and hopes that she wakes up soon. 

Lal explained that Chie collapsed due to stress, and they're monitoring her vital signs just in case there is any underlying health condition.

Kyoko really hopes that isn't the case. She knows how much Chie loves to run around and sing at the top of her lungs.

"Chie-chan… please wake up," Kyoko prays, a tear sliding down her cheek, worries overcoming her emotional control.

She looks so pale, lying there. There's nothing wrong that could be detected, and the longer she stays under, the harder it is on all of them. 

The Arcobaleno trials weren't easy on the guys and Chrome, and despite the quick respite in their own homes during those days, they're all forced to come back, only to receive news of Chie's collapse.

Kyoko jumps slightly as the door hisses open, to see Lal leaning against the doorway.

"You need to rest, Kyoko. They say that she should wake up soon."

Kyoko wipes her tears away, nodding her assent with a smile. She casts a lingering glance at Chie before she leaves.

Chie is still, heartbeat steadily beeping on the monitor, the glowing object in her hand hidden beneath the blanket.

./

When Chie finally opens her eyes, Choice is just round the corner.

Unbeknownst to anyone, her eyes shine blue as she mutely sits up, almost like a porcelain doll.

Chie looks down at her hands, feeling the strangely young body. She glances around the room as she catches the faint smell of warm laundry and flowers. 

Kyoko.

A tear slides down her cheek.

She sits on the bed, silent as ever.

 _It is not time, yet,_ Chie thinks. _Not yet. It's too early for this body._

Then, slowly, Chie smiles. 

The pacifier rolls out of her grip as she finally lets it go. _She_ goes back to sleep just as the door to her room bursts open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will now be once every 2 weeks. The Hippo got smacked by life. Lol.


	11. Chapter 11

Chie stares blankly at the wide open space, lips pursed into a line as she shuffles out of the lift to the waiting gallery. Her head feels tense and uncomfortable. There is something faint at the back of her mind, like a dream slipping out of her grasp. She remembers that there was something important about it, but she cannot recall what it was.

Dreams are like spun sugar, dissolving into nothing once exposed.

Her head throbs, and Chie forces redundant thoughts away, pushing them aside as she enters the room.

“Hi,” she deadpans, eyes heavy with dark circles. The Tenth Generation looks at her with various expressions as she feels her shoulders lighten at the lack of animosity. 

She waves. “Whassup?”

Giannini perks up from the mess of machinery, showing a wrench. “Ah, you’re here! Come try out this bike if you would,” he calls out.

Shoving her hands into the baggy pants, Chie ambles over and peers curiously at the futuristic looking motorcycle. “A bike?”

“Yeah,” Spanner looks up from his laptop, crunching loudly on the lollipop. “It’s made to go rather fast so we’re tweaking it to individual measurements. We need to install the right safety brakes for everyone.”

“Individual measurements?” Chie raises her eyebrows amusingly. “What kind?”

“Reaction speed, of course.” Spanner waves a gloved hand vaguely in her direction, attention sucked back into the screen. “Go on.”

Giannini rubs his hands exuberantly. “You’ve played arcade motorcycles before?” 

She nods, deciding to humour the sleep-deprived mechanics excited about their craft as Giannini ushers her to the bike. Her body aches, probably from a bad position she slept in last night, but she doesn't have the heart to stop them.

Her placid smile, unfaltering.

“The instructions are very simple. Grab the left handle and kick your left foot here into neutral gear. Twist this part for speed. Let the starter motor turn over until the engine fires before you release the clutch."

…okay. 

She does so.

The motorcycle did not roar to life like she thought it would. In fact, it did not even as much as sputter.

She looks back up at Giannini, confused.

Giannini stares back at her.

"Vroom?" She offers.

Someone laughs meanly in the background.

Giannini pauses his motion awkwardly as he turns puppy eyes on Spanner. "Can we give her the solar powered version?"

"Which one? Prototype 3.0z? Prototype Marco? Gionnini 2.0-?"

"Ahhh! Not that one!" Giannini screams, hands over his ears. "Not that one! Absolutely not!"

Spanner stares at him, deadpan, fingers flying across the keyboard as Chie shifts herself off the bike to watch the show.

"Does everyone get a bike, Tsuna?"

"Hiee? O-oh, uh. That." Tsuna scratches his cheek, shifty-eyed. "I mean, yeah! So that we can split into multiple teams to transport everyone together to Choice."

Makes sense. Chie nods.

“Does that mean I get to watch them make bikes for Haru and Kyoko too? It’s very interesting to watch them work.” 

“Ahahaha…” Tsuna laughs sheepishly, almost stumbling over his words. “I’m not sure if there’s enough time for them to make bikes for everybody? You can probably help carry Haru-chan and I-pin once we’ve practiced.”

 _...Smooth, Tsuna_. Chie nods again, sagely. She smiles.

“Does that mean that we can race?”

“HIIIEEE???”

She beams at him, eyes sparkling in anticipation. “You and me, Tsuna. It’s rare that we ever get to compete at something.”

Spanner pushes a new bike towards her. The tank is full, unlike the previous Flame powered one. She hops over, getting herself comfortable on the seat. Apparently, the instructions are the same for this normal bike, too. Putting the offered key into the ignition, Chie grins at Tsuna. “Three laps around. Ready?”

Reborn gives an encouraging kick to his head. “You better not lose, Tsuna.” Leon shifts into a familiar mallet as the riders settle into position.

“Go!!”

Tsuna screams as their bikes ignite, Chie’s eyes going wide as their vehicles mirror each other, weight entirely on one wheel. Many people facepalm in the background.

A drop of sweat slides down her cheek. This is supposed to be not any different from riding a granny bike, right?

She mildly examines her motorcycle. _Twist this part for speed, he says._ Chie immediately leans forward, her weight pushing her motorcycle down, back to its two wheels state. _Twist this part…_ she repeats, _for speed…!_

Mouth open in an ‘o’, green eyes opened wide as the thrusters went full speed ahead.

The speed climbs higher and higher as the next corner comes up and Chie has a sudden epiphany. She presses her body as close as she can to the bike and then she _lifts_ , running up against the wall, not slowing a tiny bit down.

Chie laughs.

_Bike goes brrrr._

“HIIIIIEEEE!!!!”

_Gravity? What’s that?_

Chie cackles in her mind as she speeds past the audience. She throws her bike back onto the common ground as she makes her last lap around the room. Oh hey, she’s a natural.

Grin firmly pasted on her face, Chie cranks the brakes and the stench of molten rubber clogs her nose as the bike screeches loudly to a stop. 

“Well, that was fun!” She tosses her hair loose from its ponytail, her eyes stinging slightly from the lack of protective gear. “Feels like I could go again,” she hums happily as she pushes the bike back to the hovering mechanics.

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” Giannini whispers fearfully, clutching at his chest. Why are kids these days so reckless?

Tsuna foams in the background as his bike topples on him. “I thought I was going to die!”

“Hiiee- ouch! Reborn!” He whines, yelping in pain as he rolls away quickly the moment Gokudera helped to lift the bike off of him. “That hurt!”

“You lost to a newbie, Dame-Tsuna.” Reborn cocks Leon-gun, tilting his fedora. “She did better than all of your thirty six attempts thus far.”

“That’s not a fair comparison—”

Shots scatter at his feet as Tsuna screeches, comically dancing away from the floor. Chie shakes her head, laughing quietly at the chaos.

If only these days never end—

…

Her smile drops.

_These days will end. Must end._

_They must see it through till the end._

./

She does not see the mechanics exchanging glances with each other, shaking their heads subtly to Reborn as they push the Flame powered bikes aside. She does not see Tsuna looking at her, confused.

Reborn shadows his face with the fedora.

That bike had been implanted with a Flame-sensor fuel that goes off when it detects an Active’s wavelength, but the bike’s fuel did not as much as increase by a millimeter when Chie touched it.

She is definitely an Inactive.

./

By dawn, Chie is shivering as she stands there in the cool air, despite being clad in the snug red jacket and checkered skirt combo for non-combatants.

The group has gathered at Namimori Shrine, teenagers trying their best to rub their sleepy eyes awake. Like the Vongola group, Chie didn't quite manage to get a good night's sleep, nerves and worry churning in her stomach the entire while, Byakuran's words haunting her.

What if he changes the target for Choice? 

What if it's truly rigged, and instead of picking Irie Shouichi like he's supposed to, he picks her instead? 

Chie bites her lip.

Things are different from what she remembers of the story. She is not supposed to be here, and yet she is. Byakuran is not supposed to show an ounce of interest towards a background character like her. 

And yet… 

_“Do you want to be my Rain?”_

Chie shivers at the memory.

(She knows little to nothing about unlocking her own Flames. All she knows is that it takes a will to do something even if it is your last breath. Chie does not have that kind of will.)

 _It is only a slight difference, a minor change, in the story._ She tries to reassure herself. She had already stayed away from the main cast during the entire introductory arc, and the most contact she had was with Kyoko. Even then, the chains did not try to strangle her as long as she does not try to change the path Kyoko was supposed to lead for Tsuna.

However, Chie cannot help but be anxious. She clutches her clammy hands together against her chest, shaking. Negative thoughts cloud her mind. What if things don’t go as planned? What if Tsuna loses? What if none of them can make it out alive from the Future Arc?

Small changes are also a warning. A kind of foreboding that if one does not notices them, things will go to hell when they least expect.

_She doesn't want to die. Not yet. It's not the right time._

Chie is scared. She does not want to screw things up further. She squeezes her eyes shut. The rusty chains coil around her head and for once, she is glad of their presence.

It's a ridiculous thought, she knows. There are so many Rains with them; Yamamoto, Squalo, Basil and maybe even Lal in a pinch. It doesn't have to be her, especially since she isn't a fighter.

_Not once has she doubted herself to be anything but a Rain. She's too passive, self-controlled. Her personality just screams a classic Flame type for those who care to notice._

And yet.

A chill of unease seeps into her bones and Chie huddles quietly to herself, inching closer to Kyoko and Haru as the group waits for _something_ to happen. 

Then, true to his dramatic personality, Byakuran appears with a smirk and a taunt while their group answers back with righteous rage.

She doesn't think it is just her imagination that violet eyes linger on her last before the teleportation succeeds.

./

Chie squeezes her sleeves tight beneath crossed arms as the roulette spins, and by luck or by rigging, everything stays the same.

Her shoulders sag when Shouichi and Spanner volunteer to be the non-combatants joining the battle, and she casts a lingering glance on the redhead as he walks out with his head held high, life steadily burning away from the target on his chest.

It's torture.

Chie closes her eyes.

It's torture, plain and simple. Revenge.

Byakuran made his self-proclaimed 'best friend' become a living target, a mere prop for entertainment through sacrificing his life with every wisp and lick of Sun Flames that emits from the circle over his heart.

…how cruel.

Chie squeezes her fists and snaps her eyes open, intent on watching this match to the end. That's the very least he— no, they all deserve. Someone to stand and acknowledge their efforts, their struggles as they fight back against tremendous odds for the merest glimmer of hope, for a chance to turn the tides and Chie knows how ridiculously bad the probability is stacked against them.

Chie tries to fade into the background like any good supporting character would, but she can't help but glance at the battlefield monitors every so often to see Byakuran alternating between boredom at the ongoing and a sly, searching look directed towards the holding area for the rest of the Vongola team.

She grits her teeth, and for once she feels the hot, trembling emotion called anger nearly overtake her serenity.

Chie sucks in a slow, deep breath and exhales quietly. 

_Don't be affected. Distance yourself. Do not interfere. Let the Plot happen._

By the time her emotions settle back into the calming lull of waves, Daisy gasps back to life and Shouichi collapses.

Chie stands as still as a statue, even when a girl in a white hat ghosts through the corner of the monitor screens.

It's finally time.

Chie sags in relief. Nothing changed.

As Tsuna half-drags, half-runs with Yuni beside him and the Funeral Wreaths give chase, Chie stares at the monitors and can't help but wonder why the sense of disquiet hasn't faded, worry gnawing a hole in her stomach even as the group makes it to the mobile base safely and they teleport back to Namimori ahead of their pursuers.

They've bought some time by destroying the teleport machine the moment they land on familiar soil. It'll take some time for the Millefiore elites to chase after them, and so Reborn and the rest hatch another plan once Yuni’s told them of her visions.

./

Truth be told, she feels kind of awkward. She doesn't feel like she fits in with Haru and Kyoko as they run, heading towards a certain realtor Haru knows, and Chie gulps.

Thankfully, no matter what happened while she was unconscious, there were no negative effects on her body. Chie can run in pace with the group without any difficulty. When they arrive, she avoids looking at the white haired man in the eye, opting to glance backwards to check for the Funeral Wreaths who are hot on their heels.

Her nerves are buzzing from the adrenaline. From knowing too much. So she keeps herself docile and unobtrusive the entire time even as a powerful wave of (Mist) energy floods her senses and hides them from the loud redhead angrily demanding for them to be handed over, his voice carrying through the shop’s walls.

Chie half-heartedly ducks behind the sofa with a trembling Haru, waiting.

Old man Kawahira goes back to slurping his ramen without care the moment Zakuro leaves, and the group shakily comes out of their hiding spots around the room.

Chie casts a glance at Yuni, blinking at her lack of recognition towards Kawahira, eyebrows rising. And accidentally makes eye contact with Kawahira right after, who has been watching her stare at Yuni.

A dust of pink gathers on her cheeks and Chie darts her eyes away, a hand on an elbow as Tsuna and the rest offer to leave the sanctuary after thanking the man.

Did she remember the story wrongly? Weren't Yuni and Kawahira supposed to know each other by now?

She can't help but linger a backward glance as the group leaves for the forest after Yuni's declaration and explanation of her foresight abilities, Reborn backing up her claims. The old man sees them off with an unreadable expression, hidden behind his glasses. 

Chie wishes that he'll look less sad and lonely. She impulsively lifts a thumbs up, giving him a silent cheer, and is shocked when nothing rattles in her mind. Something must have shown in her expression because he looks slightly surprised, staring at her with wide eyes as Chie rapidly turns around and heads forward to face what's to come.


	12. Chapter 12

The final battle is essentially a clash between the two strongest Skies of this generation, Chie muses from where she is safely parked with Bianchi, Kyoko and Haru, a good distance away from the main fights. Yuni is nearby, protected by Reborn and the mechanic squad.

They’ve sequestered the non-combatants away from the fighters, but not too far away in case any of them do require assistance in fending off the Millefiore. Thankfully, the opponents do not seem to be interested in the girls.

Chie doesn't know if she is glad or worried that the Funeral Wreaths have yet to try for her, but she privately thinks Byakuran has some kind of plan regarding her presence. After all, no one declares someone is special and then ignores them outright. She's just very worried for when the situation might suddenly go completely haywire.

Her head throbs badly and Chie gets this strange urge to throw herself into the thick of it, even as something else holds her back. It's utterly conflicting and she doesn't know what to do.

./

Someone screams, high and shrill as Tsuna collapses to the ground, stock still at the white dragon ambush.

Chie grips her skirt, knuckles white even as her head runs through the possibilities on whether or not he survives by that miracle. All of his Guardians fare no better, shouting his name and some of them disengage their opponents just to stare at the main fight, horrified and utterly itching to help.

Chie glances at Yuni, who looks worried but not yet terrified. The girl looks at her and nods, as Tsuna suddenly coughs in surprise and pushes himself up, much to everyone's relief.

Chie feels herself sag, mind temporarily set at ease. Except…

She glances at the trembling shoulders of the petite Sky Arcobaleno and feels both pity and rage.

She's been feeling a lot of emotions recently, ever since they came to the future.

Chie walks towards Yuni and draws her into a brief hug.

"Don't be afraid, Yuni." Chie whispers, words tumbling out of her mouth. For some reason, she doesn't understand what she's saying. "You have all of us to support you."

Yuni looks at her with teary eyes and nods. Chie wonders why does the Sky Arcobaleno make her heart feel like it's as fragile as glass?

It's like there's someone else almost with her, a tall silhouette with that orange pacifier overlapping with Yuni's, a phantom memory that she can't seem to recall. 

Chie mutely flinches, the migraine drilling holes into her head, blinking away tears. Why does her chest hurt so much?

Yuni seems to interpret it differently and uses gentle hands to wipe away Chie's tears, a smile on her face.

"It'll be alright." Beautiful azure eyes look up at her. "This nightmare will end soon, I promise."

Chie grips Yuni's hands tight, a sense of foreboding creeping down her spine. Her mouth opens, but she doesn't know what to say.

The decision is suddenly taken from her as Yuni is engulfed in a barrier of orange that shoves Chie onto the ground. Yuni is unceremoniously lifted into the sky amidst surprised shouts and sudden terror as she looks at all of them with a shocked expression.

Chie starts running.

Her heart pounds harder as something calls her so.

./

"No… NO!! THIS ISN'T ENOUGH TO STOP ME!!" Byakuran roars, madness in his eyes. The corpse stands in the crater of Sky flames, taking everything Tsunayoshi has to offer.

His X-Burner just wasn't enough. 

Tsuna collapses onto the ground from exhaustion beside Yuni’s remains, unable to produce any more Dying Will flames despite his anger, anguish and despair. 

Chie stares as her shackles shake, as loud as the tremors of the sky. Everyone hides behind their hands as Tsuna’s X-burner, the bright beam of molten orange shatters the remainder of the Sky Flame barrier into diamond dust, raining petals over the entire field. 

She watches with growing dread as Tsuna falls onto his knees, clutching onto the last hope Yuni and Gamma had given them with their lives, guarding the pacifier set with determined eyes.

He refuses to give up even until the very end. But what was supposed to be the finishing blow did not end this nightmare.

"I was so close to finishing my dream!" Byakuran mumbles, filled with scorn and hatred. His entire body is coated with dense Sky flames, absorbing even the X-Burner. Everyone tenses up, ready to strike. However, Chie instinctively knows that whatever is going to come next, none of them can do anything about it.

Something cold slithers into her gut, and her chest hurts.

A familiar presence blooms in the back of her mind, its warmth flushing away the lead from her limbs. For a moment, Chie thinks she can hear a heartbeat overlapping hers as her blood sings.

_The tolling of the bell has come._

A fading smile and a colourless world flashes behind her eyelids as something draws her attention to Tsuna. A distant memory, lost in a dream. A forgotten presence.

It calls.

It’s calling for her!

_Let the miracles guide your way._

"Ah... that's right… it's not over yet! It's not over yet!" Byakuran's eyes are glazed over with insanity, smoke rising out of his mouth as he stumbles forward. 

"With the Tri-Ni-Sette…! WITH THAT GIRL, I CAN-!!"

The walking corpse stares at Tsuna and grins with teeth. The boy could only watch with frozen horror.

Byakuran launches at him. Someone screams.

"Tsuna!"

As if in slow motion, a hand deftly plucks a pacifier from Tsuna's grasp and Chie smiles at him. He watches with dawning horror as she turns her back towards him. Her lonely figure against the world.

She stands tall against the burning orange.

Her heart, her soul, her everything. Her unwavering faith, eternal. 

Her life, Yuni’s life, Tsuna’s life. Every single one of them.

Chie drowns.

(Somewhere, warm hands gently cradle her as Chie sinks and never let go. _She_ takes the lead, taking her now rightful place in space and time just as he survived what he wasn’t supposed to.)

The last thing she remembers is Tsuna's horrified face.

Blue light detonates, flaring and surging high into the sky like a rising tower. Byakuran collides into the pillar of Rain and screams, flailing as he tries to crawl his way towards them.

Rain Flames press against the madman as they rush forth, spinning into a condensed ball of prison. Byakuran is in the air now, long, loud piercing cries and curses can be heard throughout the clearing.

"HOW DARE YOU!! HOW DARE YOU STOP ME!! ARCOBALENO!!!"

Tsuna looks wide eyed at Chie. She is gripping onto the pacifier tightly, and for a moment, Tsuna is worried that she might be using the Life Flames Yuni had given to revive the Arcobaleno.

But Colonello's signature bandana hasn't disappeared.

Then, Tsuna watches as Chie's dark hair bleaches into a light blue colour like a waterfall. 

"C-Chie-chan?" He asks tentatively, unsure.

The girl (woman, something in him argues) turns back and Tsuna's breath hitches. Staring back at him is a pair of glowing blue eyes. There is immeasurable power in their depths, and it locks his body in place. Tsuna shakes, his hair standing on every edge of his skin.

"...Who are you? You're...not Chie-chan..." Tsuna grips the dirt, fingers digging into the ground.

The woman levels him a flat stare.

"Who I am does not matter, Bearer of the Vongola Ring." The woman says simply in Chie's body. "Please be rest assured, for I am here to fulfill my duty. Thank you for your hard work, but you don't have to worry about Byakuran getting back. I will deal with him."

Tsuna stares at her in shock. Relief floods his body twice as much as disbelief does.

"But—"

"YOU? DEAL WITH ME? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH, ARCOBALENO!! YOUR TIME IS LONG OVER!" Byakuran screeches, hanging onto life despite being nothing more than a useless body packed full of guts. Tsuna doesn’t understand how he is still alive. 

Byakuran steps forward, a maniac snarl on his face.

“PEOPLE LIKE YOU SHOULD HAVE EXITED THE STAGE LONG AGO!!” 

“Byakuran, Bearer of the Mare Rings,” The woman in Chie's body chuckles, a small smile on her face. It looks weird, Tsuna thinks. It is almost as if she doesn’t know how to smile. “You’re wrong.”

“Didn’t Yuni tell you? The Tri-Ni-Sette are miracles condensed into physical form. The Arcobaleno are unique points in space and time."

"You, o' holder of the Mare set, who has experienced the miracle of traveling across parallel worlds, can't possibly be denying the other miracles now, are you?” She tilts her head, reminiscent of the Chie that Tsuna knows.

“Other miracles, you say?” Byakuran cackles. The cruel sound rings loud and clear in Tsuna ears as he watches with mounting anger that just keeps climbing and climbing with every word. 

“I HAVE DESTROYED ANY CHANCE OF MIRACLES IN ALL THE OTHER PARALLEL WORLDS!! MIRACLES NO LONGER EXIST FOR THIS WORLD! EVERY HOPE AND WISH YOU COULD POSSIBLY HAVE ARE ALL DEAD!!”

“THE ONLY REASON THAT YOU AND YOUR GENERATION OF ARCOBALENO ARE ALIVE IS BECAUSE I ALLOWED YOU TO!!”

The woman laughs.

With a condescending expression, she lifts her chin and stares at Byakuran. “Do you really believe in that? Can you even recall what happened in my world?” She asks, and just like that, a flip is switched.

She grins.

“You can’t, can you?”

Just like a master of ceremonies, the woman gestures with the elegance of a host. “Then,” she offers, “why don’t I enlighten you?"

She smiles, a razor sharp grin slightly ill-fitting on a face rarely used to do more than putting on a mask.

And the air _thunders,_ oppressing in its unending pressure like the bottom of the ocean as everyone struggles to get back to their feet. Byakuran _screams_ as Rain crushes him.

"CHIIEEEEE!!!!" 

Cerulean blue eyes glow bright as light motes of blue gather in her hands. Slowly, she draws it out. Its blue tip swings once, leaving a trail of Rain Flames. She grips the scythe, power condensed into a single strike. 

The woman draws back and readies her weapon. Expression neutral, she swings.

Byakuran screams as the blade slashes through his abdomen. Blinding white pain burns his entire body as she cleaves him in half.

The sphere of blue hardens, and everyone watches the light die behind his eyes.

"Corpses should stay dead." 

For all that Flames can mimic the supernatural powers of the occult, nothing can slow or stop the death reaper's scythe with the exception of a nigh-legendary Immortal man.

Blood spills and crushes itself into dark stone by sheer _Tranquility_ , scattering across the crater in a single, big clump.

Everyone stares mutely at the sudden end.

"Good things must end for better things to come." The woman in Chie's body says, the blue light emanating from her form slowly dying out. "Your role is long over, Byakuran."

The glow in her eyes disappears.

Chie wakes, blinking blurrily as the pacifier drops from her hand, Rain Flames immediately dissipating from her hands. Woozily, she staggers and the world turns sideways as rainbow colours flare.

./

"Chie-chan!" Tsuna strains forward, when familiar voices suddenly resound by his ear.

"Woah, kora! That was sudden!" 

"Colonello!"

"Hey there, Lal." The blondie smirks, carefully putting Chie's head onto the ground. "How's everyone?"

"Mou. Seems like something unexpected happened."

Verde adjusts his glasses as keen eyes stare at them like a particularly interesting experiment. "Something outside of observational data, you mean."

"The great Skull-sama is back in business! Wahaha-"

"Shut up, lackey!" Twin voices resounded, kicking him away.

"B-but, Reborn-senpai, Colonello-senpai!" Skull sniffles as Fon slides up to him, nudging him upright.

"Perhaps not now, Skull." Fon smiles at him, before turning to their shocked audience.

"You have our thanks, Tsuna, everyone. With all your efforts, we can reverse the changes that Byakuran has wrought upon the future."

"Rest assured that we'll carry out Yuni's message, kora. Take it as a gift from us to you guys in the past."

"The Arcobaleno!" Basil nearly stutters, eyes wide as they dart to Chie and back.

"We can roughly sense what happened while in the pacifier, kora. Don't worry, we'll take care of her." Colonello reassures.

The Varia are quick to leave after that, dragging the prisoners with them as the Decimo group is left with cleanup.

"Chie-chan…" Tsuna winces, hobbling over with help as Reborn lights a thread of Sun through his pacifier to assess the damage.

"Hmm. She's unconscious, nothing more. I don't sense any other abnormalities from her apart from general fatigue."

"Man, Chie-chan sure was fierce! Did you see it? She went woosh, and then swoosh! Ahahaha!" Yamamoto rubs his head cheerfully as Gokudera turns his ire on him, running his mouth off like a motor boat to scold the idiot.

"Ah, yeah… she saved my life and helped us." Tsuna sheepishly grimaces, a fond yet worried look on his face. "Will she be okay, Reborn?"

"We'll have to bring her back to base and monitor her condition. But from what it looks like right now, there's nothing a good long rest won't fix. That applies to all of you as well."

"So, good job Tsuna. We're going home."

Onyx eyes fairly glowed with pride as he said it. Tsuna beams.

"WE DID IT! HURRAH!!"

./

Chie slowly wakes up to the faint smell of antiseptic in the air, a ventilator mask attached to her face as she focuses on the plain ceiling.

_Where…? Ah, right. The base's infirmartory._

She turns her head to the left, slowly, noticing the familiar distance to the door. Ah, they placed her in the same bed that they used for Chrome.

Alone in the room, Chie takes stock of her sore, fatigued limbs that felt like they just did an entire triathlon. Which kind of makes sense, seeing how hard _she_ pushed her body's limits. She wonders how she managed to forget about the dream they shared.

Maybe it was for the best, because Chie tends to worry excessively.

...no one's there anymore, in her head. The cool, minty presence _she_ had was gone, lost to the wind.

Somehow, her heart hurts.

Chie bites her lip, burrowing deeper into the soft pillows and closes her stinging eyes, allowing sleep to claim her once more.

A tear slides down her face.

./ 

The next time she opens her eyes, she's fully awake. The tall Fuuta greets her with a bright smile on his face.

"Chie-nee! Oh, should I tell others you're awake?"

She shakes her head, motioning to her dry throat and he gets the hint quickly.

"Here."

Taking careful sips of water, Chie sighs in relief at the wonderful sensation in her throat. "How's everyone, Fuuta? And how long did I sleep?"

"Just about two days, Chie-nee." She eyes him at the change in honorifics, which she just noticed. He grins back unrepentantly. "Everyone's still celebrating the end of their troubles and are letting loose, hanging around and cheering, that sort of stuff."

"How are you, Fuuta?" Chue asks softly, tired eyes focusing on him. "Will you be fine?"

Fuuta visibly braces himself for a moment, but nods. "I'll be fine. We'll be fine. We won, ne?"

And what can she say to that?

Chie hums, leaning back. "Any good stories in the future? Interesting movies?"

"Ah, right! You weren't there at the storytelling sessions for Lambo and I-pin," Fuuta gasps in mock alarm as she giggles.

He rolls up his sleeves. "Now I have to make up for it," he states with all the importance in the world.

"Take your time, it's not like I'm in the mood to go anywhere." Chie jokes, and they fall into companionable chatter.

./

She stares into a hand mirror, twirling a bundle of hair as she fiddles with a pair of scissors in one hand. Her dark tresses are long gone, replaced with an unnatural pale shade of blue. Her reflection almost resembles _that_ person. 

If she wants to cut off the unnatural colours of her hair, she might have to shave off her entire head.

She shakes her head and meanders back to the bedside, tossing the disposable scissors onto the nearest table and burying herself under the quilt.

She should catch up on more sleep while she can. It's been a long while since she had a break from nightmares, and the past few days have been kind to her.

The faint sound of rattling chains is muted now, and her chest feels lighter. She feels more free.

Chie doses off on the remainder of _that_ person's Tranquility.

She sleeps for a couple more hours in the blessed silence, until a very rowdy commotion barges into the sanctity of the infirmary. 

"Bahahaha! All the cake is now Lambo-sama's. Stupid I-pin!"

"Lambo don't be rude!"

"Haha! I-pin's too slow! I'm eating her cake now! Ngyaa!" The insufferable child shouts, jumping onto Chie's lap as he pulls a funny face at I-pin, who looks like she's about to cry.

Chie hurriedly distracts Lambo. "Oh hey, Lambo, I heard that there's a grape flavoured ice cream machine that they're trying to make. If you don't get there now, the ice cream will be gone!" She gasps theatrically. 

Thank all the deities above, Lambo's only a kid and not the smartest tool in the box, so after he shoved half a slice into a very sticky mouth, he nearly topples the plate over her as he dashes out of the room. "Nyahahaha! Slow pokes! The grape ice cream is gonna be all mine! Lambo-sama's!"

Chie quickly grabs the plate and offers a bite to I-pin. "If you don't mind sharing whatever's left here, this is yours." She nods to the doorway.

I-pin blushes lightly and nods with a soft 'thank you', running off with the remaining cake.

"...ah, I see you've got it handled." A late Fuuta sheepishly peeks round the corner as Chie smiles amusedly at him. 

"Still part of the babysitting club?"

He shrugs slightly. "I never really grew out of it, I guess. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but fifteen year old Lambo throws the same temper tantrums as when he was five," he winks.

Chie chortles. "Good to know."

Fuuta pauses from the doorway as he overhears something. "I think they're all waiting for you to join them, Chie-nee. Only when everyone's present can the party go into full swing.

She nods, shooing him away. "Let me just change my clothes then."

./

Chie pokes her head through the kitchen's doorway and eyes the mess, a faint grimace on her face as she instinctively thinks about the cleanup.

Many sets of eyes turn to her at once as if on cue.

"Ah, Chie-chan! You're awake!" Tsuna beams at her, hurrying over with a slice. "This is the last strawberry shortcake we had after Lambo ate nearly everything," he trails off sheepishly.

Chie smiles as she gratefully accepts the cake. "Thank you."

She ignores the sudden attention directed towards her and ambles straight towards Kyoko, nearly tripping over a fallen toy from Lambo's bird nest of hair.

She plops into her seat as Kyoko tearfully holds her hand as she eats. "Are you okay?" Kyoko asks, concern colouring her eyes.

Chie nods. "Much better now. Sorry for making you worry."

Kyoko shakes her head, and gives her the brightest smile she could offer.

"As long as you're alright." 

Chie grins back, true to her feelings. "Yeah. I'm perky at the thought of going home."

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of a short series.  
> Enjoy~


End file.
